Dragon Ball Z: Rise Of The Fallen
by omolina100
Summary: The Planet Elite Force, led by the Saiyan Bardock was supposed to be slaughtered in Planet Meat, but by a stroke of luck, Bardock missed the initial assault, and Fasha survived out of sheer luck. Before he takes his revenge on Freeza, Bardock sends her to the only place he can think of where she will be safe. Earth.
1. Fight To The Death

Chapter 1

Every ounce of energy went to the palm of his hand. His feet went numb, his head got somewhat woozy, his chest began hurting like mad, but still he kept sending energy to his hand. The bright blue energy ball began growing and growing until it was slightly bigger than his head. Not much to look at compared to Freeza, but it was packed with more energy than he had mustered in his entire life. A few dozen soldiers were behind him, but he knew that they would not attack him, not after the way he had killed at least fifteen of them with single punches in order to get here. Freeza simply sat there on his damn throne, lifting a single finger and powering up a tiny red and black energy ball.

He had no clue whatsoever what the ball's energy was, but something told him it was probably stronger than him. Without letting his second thoughts and doubts interrupt him, Bardock kept charging his power, what little he had left to his hand, and by now the energy ball was at least twice the size of his head.

He looked at Freeza again, and found the tyrant looking at him with a curious look on his face. How he hated that look. How he hated that man. Everything he had done in his entire life had been for him. He had risked his life for years, fighting for him without hesitating, never wavering in what he had been ordered to do. It's true that he had cared little for Freeza, but if King Vegeta had died, he and his team would have had little to no problem following Freeza, if only because they had been blind.

Instead he decided to have them all killed.

He gritted his teeth at the thought. Seeing Tora, barely alive, shaking and spasming like a child, spewing his last words at him, it had been more than he had been able to take. Shugesh and Borgos had been dead for a while by the time he got there; they were probably the first Dodoria killed.

But Fasha, poor, sweet, kind, always-remembering-her-teammates, Fasha. It would have been a mercy to kill her.

Without stopping his attack, he remembered their last encounter, with tears filling his eyes.

00

_"Don't let him win" she had so naively asked him. How could she ask him such a thing? How could she expect him to defeat him? And yet, he knew he had to. He could no longer remain blind to the oppression of their people; he could no forgive this betrayal. Freeza had to die for this._

_ "He will die by my hand" he promised, as he carried her to his pod, careful not to damage her ravaged body._

_ "You've gotten so much stronger now" she said as she caressed his face softly with her better hand. "You can do it. If anybody can do it, it's you."_

_ "And when I'm done with him I'm coming to get you back, to bring you back to planet Vegeta. I swear we'll be free, Fasha."_

_ "Where are you taking me?" she said, slightly above a whisper before coughing off some blood._

_ "The only place I consider safe for now" he answered as he pressed the button on his remote, opening the door to his pod. He carefully placed her inside and gave her the remote, which she took with a very weak hand. For a moment the thought that she might not make it passed through his mind._

_ "What are you going to do?" she asked him as she straightened his new headband like the caring woman she was._

_ "I'm going to find another remote; hopefully these bastards came here in pods. I'll get back to Vegeta and warn everybody of the danger. You get out of here."_

_ "Right… guess I'll see you back in Planet Vegeta" she murmured softly before she closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths. With a nod he stepped back, and after a few seconds, the pod took off._

00

Dodoria had found him after that, and left him for dead himself. It had been a damn near miracle that he had made it back to Planet Vegeta. It was even more than a miracle that he had send Fasha away to the only place he could think off without Freeza blasting the pod out of the sky.

But what really got to him was the fact that nobody had believed them. Fasha had been unconscious most of the time, so she couldn't tell them what had happened, and everybody had thought that he had simply met his match in Planet Meat. It burned inside of him, even more than his hatred for Freeza, the stubbornness of his people, the willing blindness they had forced upon themselves. Had they listened to him, had they even considered the possibility, maybe something could have been done. But they had pushed him aside; they had shoved him away and accused him of being paranoid, of not knowing how to deal with losing. They didn't understand. Most saiyans didn't know what camaraderie was. He had seen more than once a superior officer, a general, even the king, killing a man or woman that had fought by their side for years, simply because they failed an assignment, simply because things did not go according to plan.

But he was different, he was one of the few that actually cared for his friends, he was one of the few that actually cared for his people. And he was the only one standing up to Freeza.

He threw one last look around him, the same pathetic soldiers shaking in their boots. They did not know what freedom was, they did not know what pride was, they had no idea what it meant to think for yourself, to do what you know has to be done. With his eyes focused on Freeza, Bardock decided that it was today when it ended. The oppression over Planet Vegeta. The oppression over the Saiyan race. The attacks on defenseless planets. The destruction of cities that held no challenge for them simply because a tyrant told them to. The slavery of their children. Freeza's betrayal. Freeza's life. It was today when it all ended.

With one last charge of energy, he lost all feeling on his legs and left arm, but it didn't matter. What mattered was killing him. With one last charge of energy he felt how his senses grew sharper. With one last charge of energy his eyes focused on Freeza's own and ignored everything else. With one last charge of energy he would set his people free.

"THIS!" he yelled as he pulled his arm back. Every muscled tensed past their ripping point.

"ENDS!" His arm moved forward, using the last of his strength to propel the energy ball as fast as he could towards his most hated enemy.

"NOW!" The ball flew away from his hand, flying faster than any attack Bardock had ever thrown. The ball cut through the artificial atmosphere that Freeza's ship created around it. The ball approached Freeza at blinding speeds, almost too fast for even Bardock to see…

The ball disappeared.

His eyes went as wide as they could when he saw the red and black supernova expand, larger and larger until Freeza looked like a tiny speck under it. He heard a maniacal laugh from the creature, and he saw how the huge energy ball came closer and closer towards him.

Had he had any fight left in him he would have responded with an energy barrage, an energy wave, anything. But down to the last bit of strength he had left had gone in his final attack, and he could no longer move. The ball encased him, and he felt how his armor gave way and began disintegrating around him. He felt how his skin began to peel back and his muscles burn away into nothing. And with the last second he had left in his life, Bardock saw how his son would one day do what he could not. And with a smile on his face, Bardock died.


	2. Strange World

Chapter 2

Fasha braced for impact as soon as she woke up as best as her bruised body would allow her. Being in stasis isn't exactly unpleasant, but it does leave one disoriented, especially if you've just been pulled out of a healing tank before it was done. And it wasn't like she had any time to heal before Bardock sent her flying towards who knew where. The pod was an old model too, it didn't have any medical systems. This meant that her body had remained bruised and battered for an entire year. She winced at the thought, the next few weeks were going to be unpleasant.

The pod beeped once, indicating it had entered the atmosphere, but to her surprise, she didn't feel that much of a change. The atmosphere in this planet must be extremely low. The pod beeped again, indicating it would be landing soon and this time, Fasha did feel the crash as her circular ship smashed against the ground. Thankfully, the ground was also very soft, and she didn't experience much other than a few scratches, which went unnoticed thanks to the large amount of pain she was already feeling. After a few more minutes, she grabbed the two spare scouters Bardock had shoved in her hand and opened the door, stepping gingerly outside.

The sky was a bright blue, with the small sun flashing bright down on the planet. A soft gust of air caress her body with a gentle whistle. The large green plains stretched as far as she could see, and only the occasional tree or animal interrupted her view.

This place would be worth a fortune, she thought to herself before she realized that it wouldn't be worth a fortune to anybody but Freeza.

To anybody but the man that had betrayed them. Them and their entire race.

She winced in pain. Not physical pain, although there was plenty of that, but a pain deep inside of her. Watching her home world blow up like that. Every single Saiyan killed in the explosion. And Bardock.

She felt herself placing a hand on her chest, as if the pressure from it would ease the pain she felt inside, but it didn't work. She kept feeling the ugly, cold sensation of solitude inside of her. She was alone. She didn't think she was the last Saiyan alive, there were some in assignments, and Vegeta had been taken under Freeza's orders, but perhaps he had been murdered as well. At any rate, she was completely alone in this strange planet, and the feeling did not recede somewhat until she felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away with her gloved hand, realizing just how bad she must smell. She chuckled at her own shame. How she must look right now. Clutching her pod as hard as she could, crying like a baby, smelling like the she hadn't taken a bath in years (which she hadn't) and weak. That was the worst part. She could feel weak, she imagined she must look weak as well. If Bardock saw her now, she would die of shame.

Despite the fact that she had always been one to openly express her emotions, she had learned that was not something Bardock knew how to deal with, and she had learned how to suppress her feelings when she was around him.

But there was no need for that anymore was it? The thought made her feel somewhat better and after a few minutes she straightened up and began scouting the immediate area. What she saw surprised her, not because there were many large power levels, but the complete opposite.

5. 2. 4. 6. 8. 1. 6. 15. 6. 7. 2. 9. 16. Diminutive power levels filled her scouter's screen.

With a click flick, she began raising the filter to read power levels above 50 but below 70. Only three numbers filled her screen this time. 59. 52. 61. That was what passed for "elite" in this planet no doubt. Curiosity filled her and she began checking power levels over 100. Only one number came up, so far away he was most likely a master of some sort. 109. He was probably the leader of this planet.

Shrugging it off, Fasha decided that there was no threat to her in this planet, not even in her pitiful state. She quickly activated the scouter's self scanner and a number that was much higher than the rest filled her screen. She scanned herself again just to be sure. It read the same number.

1950.

Even in her state, Fasha managed to smile and almost laugh with happiness. Despite everything that had happened, despite having lost almost everything in her live, she managed a large smile that covered her face.

1950. Her power had soared after her last fight. Her grin became ever large when she realized that she was still very injured, and as such her power level would be higher once she was fully healed. This time she did managed a small laugh and she felt much better.

Without a clear plan in her head, Fasha sat back inside the pod and accessed the travel computer, thinking that maybe she could recognize the coordinates of the planet she was sent to, although she doubted it, numbers had never been her strong suit. The travel log read that she had been in stasis for a year and two months. The coordinates, which she didn't recognize, had been punched less than a minute before the pod had taken off, which meant one of two things. Either the pod had been pre-programmed to come here before Bardock shoved her in, unauthorized no doubt, or Bardock himself had punched in the coordinates. Both were likely, but her gut told her that it had been the latter.

Straightening back outside, she decided that the first order of business was getting food. If there was one thing that Fasha hated about traveling was the fact that by the time she awoke in the planet, she was always starving. Stomach rumbling, she levitated a few dozen meters and took aim at the biggest and fattest animal, quickly dispatching it with a single blast. She had not taken into account her new power, though, and her blast burned right through the animal, scorching it's corpse almost instantly. Annoyed that she had wasted the juiciest of the critters but proud of her new power, Fasha aimed at the second best and fired, this time the blast hit the creature in the face, and only the head was burnt. The rest of the animal was ripe to eat, and she did just that.

00

Gohan carefully stepped through the foliage, making sure to step on the few burning leaves that might threaten the forest if left unchecked, and arrived at a large crater that had cleared all life in a twelve meter radius. In the middle of that crate was a large metal sphere. It was unlike anything he had ever seen, and he was forced to grab his cap in surprise when the door opened loudly.

From the inside of the space ship came some steam, and when it cleared, Gohan was able to peer inside, but he already knew what he would find. The helpless cries told him everything. The baby had a lot of hair, black as night, and was screaming and crying loudly, shaking his tiny arms and legs furiously inside his metal prison. Mercy won over caution and gingerly, Gohan made his way down to the boy, never taking his eyes off the strange alien spaceship. Deciding it wasn't a threat to him at the moment, Gohan crouched down and grabbed the little boy, careful not to rip any cables or strange contraptions in the machine. With some effort he finally got the boy free, and his cap almost fell off his head in surprise again when he saw the large tail the boy had. It looked just like a monkey's tail, bushy and long. The tail twitched every time the boy cried, and when he tried touching it, the boy yelled even louder and his tail cringed, wrapping around itself before falling down again, whipping wildly with the boy's movements.

To astonished to even think at the moment, Gohan hugged the boy reassuringly and began walking back towards his home.

00

The second she finished eating, her brain managed to process the little thing that had been bothering ever since she discovered the coordinates had been punched less than a minute before she took off. Her mind flashed back to the discussion they had in Kanassa, before Bardock was attacked.

00

_"When was your younger son born?" Tora had asked him._

_ "I don't know" Bardock had answered, not even deigning to open his eyes at the thought of his newborn son. "But that was a long time ago."_

_ "It was not, you lazy bum!" she had butted in. "Yesterday. Come on, you need to go see the little tike. We have enough time to stop in before our next assignment._

00

"You need to see the little tike" she murmured to herself as she swallowed the last piece of meat. He had tensed so much then. She had seen him, he had wanted to say so many things, but he held back. That's why Bardock had sent her here. She stood up and ran towards the pod as best as her body allowed her and accessed the main computer. Using the password that had taken almost two months to learn, Fasha accessed the computer's higher functions and began checking the entire planet for more pods. It took over fifteen minutes, but finally she got a reading. Another space pod had crashed, not much earlier than hers. She quickly downloaded the coordinates and passed them to her scouter. With a tiny beep, the green screen in front of her left eye began pinpointing the pod's location and she took off faster than she thought possible in her current state. The wind blew past her as she shot past the eternal grasslands and rose over the mountains hundreds of miles away. With a final burst of energy she shot even faster than she had flown before, leaving a bright, pink energy trail behind her. "I'm not alone!" she yelled with delight again and again.


	3. Symptom Of The Universe

Chapter 3

Never had she been as furious as she was at that moment. It was a combination of frustration and desperation, or at least she thought that was what she was feeling at the moment. She quickly began scanning the area nearby but found nothing. Gritting her teeth, she flew up and began scanning again and again, doing her best to ignore the burning sensation in her throat.

Only miniscule power levels appeared in her scouter. She flew in an expanding circle, always checking, always scanning. After ten minutes of this she gave up, and flew down to the pod itself. Maybe it had some clue as to why the damn thing was empty. She checked the computer and began reviewing the records. The door had been opened less than fifteen minutes ago. The baby had been removed twelve minutes ago. Whoever took him could not be very far. She would have to check every single power level in the area and find whoever had taken him.

The first ten power levels she checked had been nothing more than animals, and she quickly found her patience running thin. It was not after six more power levels that she found some tracks that were not like any she had seen so far.

Apparently somebody had passed near here not too long ago, because the tracks were fresh. However, the depth of the tracks were not consistent with the size, so she assumed he must have been carrying something. However left this marks was not very tall, but was strong enough to carry both the baby and some other stuff, for the depth of the tracks was much too deep for somebody that size. As fast her sore legs allowed her, she followed for what seemed like hours, despite the fact the sun told her only a few minutes had passed. Had her scouter not beeped she would not have heard the man behind her.

"So you are the one that has been following me" he spoke in the softest voice Fasha had ever heard. She immediately spun around and pointed her hand at him, ready to fire should he prove to be a threat, but both her eyes and her scouter told her the man was not strong enough to hurt her. His power level read only 3, but something about it seemed odd. He was extremely short, even shorter than her, and she had never been really tall. He had a bald head with a small green cap covering most of it. He was wearing and orange and white armor, thinner than anything Fasha had ever seen with black pants. The way he carried himself told Fasha that he knew how to fight, despite his low power level. "Are you perhaps related to this boy?"

Fasha nearly cried out when she saw the sleeping baby in the man's arms. It was the same face, the same hair, the same mouth, the same lips.

He was the vivid image of Bardock.

She remained frozen for what seemed like an eternity, until the man placed the baby back in the basket on his back.

"Yes" she finally answered with a very dry voice.

"He was alone in the middle of the forest. I assume you came to my planet in the same way he did?" the man asked, raising both eyebrows at her with an innocence that made her skin crawl. Fasha nodded and the man kept looking at her. Not like other men had looked at her before, she noticed. "I was going to take him to my house to feed and cloth him, if you want you can come as well, these mountains can be quite dangerous at night."

"I" she answered, unsure of what to do. She wanted to take Kakarot away from this place as fast as possible, but her reckless flight had drained her and while she wasn't particularly worried about the beasts in this planet, she wasn't sure she would be able to fight back all night, much less if she had to think about Kakarot. And while this man seemed to be very weak compared to the rest of the power levels she had scanned, he spoke with such confidence Fasha found herself wondering if he was this planet's leader, or at least very influential. "Yes."

"Good. Follow me, my home is not far away" he said as he turned around and walked away. Thankfully the man was both short and slow, and it was easy for Fasha to keep up. He did not speak again until they reached his home, which gave her a long time to think about this strange man whom she had not spoken for more than a minute and had already invited her to his home, without even asking her name. For all he knew she could kill him and take the baby away from him, or kill them both, and she easily could. She wondered if everybody in this planet was as foolish as this man. "Ah, here we are."

His "home" was nothing more than a tiny shack at the top of a mountain. It had no defense structure whatsoever, and numerous windows. The house itself was an extremely easy target. Fasha wondered if the man was either too important to be attacked, or too unimportant to even draw attention to himself. She suspected it was the latter.

What she next surprised her beyond belief. Instead of taking the twisting and winding path that led up to his home, the man jumped up at least five meters up and landed in the middle of the path. With another similar jump he landed near the top of the mountain and walked towards his home without even breathing hard. Her scouter had read a power level of 53 the moment he jumped. When he stopped at his front door to wait for her it went back down to 3. Even more cautiously than before, she hovered over to him and watched him carefully for any sudden moves. The man opened the door and went inside. With great care he placed the basket in the corner of the single room the house possessed and pulled the only chair he had, offering it to her. Gingerly, she stepped inside and sat down, taking his eyes off the man for a second to quickly inspect his home before returning them to him. For a while he ignored her, doing something on his counter, she heard some liquid moving and was soon greeted by the sight of the man handing her a wooden cup with water inside.

"Uh?"

"You looked parched" the man answered her unspoken question. Without taking her eyes off him, she took the cup and downed it in one gulp before placing it back on his hands. "Are you hungry?"

"No" she answered after a while, and looking over at the basket she added. "But he will be when he wakes up."

"Ah, perhaps you can tell me what he eats. I don't know much about him. Anything really."

"He's..." She began to explain, and stopped herself just in time. She didn't know anything about this man, and next to nothing about this planet. She had to be careful until she knew more. "He can eat anything."

"Ah, good. Hopefully he'll enjoy the fruits I picked along the way" the man answered as he went over to the basket and took out the baby boy, carefully wrapping him in a blanket before placing him on the tiny bed in the corner of the room. "My name is Gohan, by the way. Son Gohan."

"Fasha" she responded after a while. She stood up and since the man offered no resistance or opposition, she walked over to the bed and looked at the tiny baby. For a long time she stood with her hands on the bed, bent over looking at the tiny Saiyan. She had not realized how long had passed until she looked up and saw that the sun had gone down, replaced instead by a large moon. The sight shock her, and for a while she feared she would transform, but after a few seconds she relaxed. It was a new moon. She felt a kind hand on her shoulder and her first instinct was to turn around and fight, but she somehow restrained herself when she saw the small man.

"Would you like to rest? You look tired" he said with the same kind eyes he always had, and Fasha found herself unable to do anything but nod.

"I won't leave him alone for a second" she answered firmly and the man nodded.

With care but speed he laid down a large number of shirts and pants in the center of the room. He placed a spare pillow in the top and smiled at her.

"I'm afraid I don't have any spare blanket for you, but you can share with the boy if you wish."

"I'm fine like this" she said, grabbing the boy and placing him down on the large and soft makeshift bed. She laid down next to him and immediately programmed her scouter to track the man on the bed. "Thank you."

"You're quiet welcome."

In less than five minutes the man was already sleep and snoring loudly.

Sleep did not come as easily for Fasha as it did for Gohan however. The moon was high in the dark sky by the time her eyes began to close and even then she kept opening to check that Gohan had not moved and Kakarot was still next to her. She really did not want to sleep. She had never been one to fear nightmares, not that she had much, but what few she had she dismissed them. But the few dreams she had had while in the pod had left her wishing that she had never slept in her life.

When she finally fell asleep, Kakarot began stirring, and a few minutes later began crying loudly. With a start, she banged her head on Gohan's table and almost knocked it over. With speed that did not match his body, Gohan got up and knelt next to Kakarot, a large fruit in his hand, all this in the time it took Fasha to grab her head and rub it. Her scouter read a power level of 35 before going back down to 3.

She watched how the old man carefully peeled the fruit and placed tiny bits into Kakarot's mouth, who eagerly bit into them. Once or twice he had his fingers bitten by the eager baby, but if he felt any pain, he was very adept at concealing it. When he was done he peeled another of those strange orange fruits and continued feeding Kakarot, watching Fasha with the corner of his eye, as if asking for permission to continue. Kakarot quickly devoured the orange and yawned loudly before falling back on the bed, asleep before he had a chance to even burp.

When he had fallen asleep, Gohan went back to bed and covered himself with his blanket while Fasha lied back down on the shirts and looked straight at the ceiling. What the hell had just happened to her? She had not reacted like her usual self. Before she would have been up in an instant, ready to fight, ready to destroy whatever had interrupted her sleep. Instead she had jumped up in surprise and hurt her head with a damn table. She furiously clenched her teeth and did her best to go back to sleep, but by the time she was making some progress, the sun had begun to crept over the mountains and Gohan woke up again.

"Ah, good morning" he said in the same soft voice of his. "I'm going to go get some milk for the boy. I'm not certain if he'll like it but our babies love it."

She nodded and the man was about to leave when she opened her mouth.

"What planet is this?"

The man did not look troubled by the question, like she had expect. Instead he closed his eyes, smiled at her and said one word.

"Earth."

And he was gone.

00

It had taken some convincing, but Fasha finally agreed to leave the baby boy with Gohan. Never taking her eye off her scouter, she removed her gloves, her boots, her armor and her underclothes. Making sure she never lost sight of her armor, she got into the river and sat down, allowing the water to reach her neck. She began rubbing her skin with her hands and before she knew it she was almost asleep in the middle of the river.

The water rose from her lower neck to her chin.

The water rose from her chin to her nose.

Her scouter beeped.

With a jump she opened her eyes and looked at her scouter's screen. With surprise in her face, she activated her scouter's communicator and pressed the transmission button. After a few seconds of silence she finally made her mind and spoke.

"Fasha here" she said.

The voice that answered her was not one that she had expected, not that she had expected another Saiyan.

"This is prince Vegeta" a childish, yet powerful voice said. "Who is this?"

"Fasha" she repeated. "Member of Bardock's Special Forces."

"Ah" the voice said, somewhat dissapointed. "Has any other member of your team survived the explosion of Planet Vegeta?"

"No, your Highness" she answered, fighting back the urge to tell him what had happened to Planet Vegeta. Something told her she shouldn't. "I'm the only one."

"Where is your current location? Freeza needs us to report to him at once."

Fasha froze. Of course he didn't know. Prince Vegeta had no idea what had happened to the planet. He hadn't seen what Freeza had done. He was in the tyrant's hands. With deep breaths she pulled out a list of coordinates she had downloaded and gave Vegeta the furthest coordinates away from where she was.

"My space pod was damaged during the crash" she lied. "I can't repair it by myself, your Highness."

"I'll tell Freeza" he answered with an annoyed tone. "You stay put and wait for further orders."

"Yes, sir" she answered dutifully. "Sir, if I may ask. How many of us are left?"

"We're still trying to reach others like you" he answered. "There's only three of us in the base at the moment."

"I see."

"Vegeta out" the boy said before shutting her off.

She stood in the middle of the river, allowing the water to run through her calves. She breathed in and out. There were three of them in the base. Three more Saiyans... and they were with Freeza. What few others might have survived would undoubtedly be killed soon. With barely controlled fury, Fasha took off her scouter and angrily smashed it against the closest rock she had.

Without wasting a single second, she placed her armor again and flew towards Gohan's house.

He was still working on the same chair that he had been working since morning, something that gave Fasha the idea that he was expecting them to stay for a while.

"You returned earlier than I expected" he said without looking up from his work. "He woke half and hour ago, but I gave him some oranges and he fell right back asleep."

She was silent for a long time. She was certain the old man could sense how she felt, but she wasn't ready to even speak to him. He seemed to notice this too, because after giving her a single look, he kept working and acted like she wasn't there at all. After what seemed like an eternity, Fasha finally found it inside herself to speak.

"I... I need to train him" she said, not certain where she should begin.

"The boy? What for?"

"He... I... We have a goal" she said, thinking harder than she had ever thought. Her head hurt from so much thinking, but she somehow managed to keep it in check long enough to talk. "We need to be strong. Very strong."

Gohan stared into her purple eyes for a long time before nodding once. He placed the half done chair down and sat down on it, offering the finished chair to her. She sat down and did her best to keep her head from exploding.

"What do you wish for?"

"What?" she asked, lifting her head and boring her purple eyes back into his own black ones.

"Strength by itself has no purpose, Fasha" he spoke in the same soft tone he always spoke. She always felt like a child herself when she spoke to the man. "Why do you seek strength?"

"Revenge" she answered almost immediately, but regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth. It wasn't really true, it wasn't revenge when the murder of hundreds of thousands was involved. "No... It's not revenge. It's justice."

"You wish to murder however hurt you" the man spoke, and Fasha again found herself looking up at him, surprised at how easy he had read her.

"Yes."

"You understand that the dead do not care about revenge" he told her. It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes... But I... It's not just for the dead."

"For him?" he asked, pointing at Kakarot, and Fasha found her gaze drawn towards the sleeping baby.

Time froze for her at that moment. The assignment at Kanassa replayed in her mind as vividly as if it had been yesterday. The assignment in planet Meat flashed back to her mind. Dodoria's ambush. The pain that she had felt when her ribs were broken by that bastard's powerful kick. Bardock's arrival. The moment she had been thrown into the healing tank, only to be pulled roughly out of it a few minutes later.

The moment she had managed to half open her eyes and barely register Bardock's scarred and bloody face looking down at her as he closed the pod before she had a chance to understand where she was.

The dreadful moment just before she entered stasis, when she managed to turn her head slightly to the left, and with the corner of her eye, she saw the huge energy ball that crashed against her home world. The only place in this entire universe that she had called home. The only place where she had been safe. The only place that held the people she had cared about.

That place was gone, along with almost every single Saiyan. Gone to pacify the fears of the universal tyrant. Gone to pacify the disease that was Freeza and his Planet Trade Organization. With tears of hate and pain rolling down her violet eyes she looked at Kakarot, slightly twitching in his sleep.

"For him."


	4. Blessed Are The Strong

Chapter 4

Fasha began telling him about the Saiyan-Tuffle war. She told him how it had begun when she was 3 years old, when her parents had joined a warrior named Vegeta in order to destroy another race that had humiliated them for a very long time. She only remembered the war halfway there, when her mother had been killed. She had died bringing down an entire Tuffle encampment by herself in order to buy time for other Saiyans to escape from a failed attack. By the time the war was near it's end, Fasha had killed five Tuffles herself, and her older brother had also been killed in the war.

She told Gohan about their beginnings as mercenaries, how they went from planet to planet, fighting their weaker enemies in order to get the aliens' technology. Vegeta had been proclaimed their king and her and her father had followed him into his army.

She told him of Freeza's annexation of their race, how their race had been practically enslaved by Freeza and his army, and how she had always felt that they had never truly won freedom.

And Gohan listened.

"I always thought that there was something wrong with me" she told him as she stared out his window into the large mountains. "I have always enjoyed fighting. Becoming stronger than my enemies, training and learning new moves, discovering new races and testing myself against them. I loved every moment of it. But I hated... I hated having to kill enemies that were not even worth my time. I always hated making them suffer for no reason... Many of my fellow Saiyans considered me a simple low class soldier, so I managed to never really call attention to my... reluctance to kill... And then Bardock found me in the middle of a mission. I had been sent along with a few other Saiyans to conquer a world with regular and moderate fighters... The mission went bad when we realized that they had much stronger defenses than we had expected. Most of us were killed during our approach, the few of us that managed to land were quickly overrun by the natives. Bardock had also been sent there, but he wouldn't tell me what for. He asked me to join his squad after his previous member had been killed. Having very little choice I joined, and after that I stayed with them until we... until we were betrayed."

Gohan looked at her deep in thought, pondering on the history he had just learned. When he finally opened his mouth, he asked her the question that had been bothering him for a very long time.

"Do your tails do anything?"

Instinctively, Fasha's tail twitched before she managed to spin it around herself again. She eyed him with the corner of her eye. Wary of any sudden movements.

"We Saiyans can transform when we receive enough Blutz Waves. Our tails allow us to transform into a... stronger form."

"Stronger form?"

"If we gaze into the full moon, we transform, and our strength increases tenfold. But most of us... we lose our ability to reason when we transform. We go berserk."

"Do you?"

"Yes, only a few of us can maintain control while we are transformed... King Vegeta could... I believe his son can do it too" she said absentmindedly as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the retreating sun.

"And can children transform as well?"

"Yes."

"I see. Well" Gohan spoke as he stood up and stretched his legs. "this had been extremely interesting, but I believe I cannot help you with what you want. You are much stronger than I am and the boy seems to like you more than he likes me."

"He's a Saiyan, he doesn't like other races" she explained without moving her gaze.

"Oh well. I have one last question for you, Fasha."

"Yes?" she asked, turning around to face the only human being she had met so far.

"What do you intend to do after you kill Freeza?"

"What?"

"Well your plan doesn't seem to go after killing Freeza."

"I... I had not thought of that... I don't think that the plan goes after that... but maybe..."

"Does the plan continue for him?"

"I hope so."

Fasha felt restless inside the tiny house, and she wished that she could go outside and fly and run and train, but like she had told Gohan, she would transform if she saw the full moon. Without opening her eyes she closed the tiny windows and laid down on the pile of shirts and pants, wishing that the next day would come sooner than the previous one.

The Saiyans were no more, but she remained. The Saiyans might have been all but extinguished, but she remained. Freeza might sleep easy now without his fear of the mighty Super Saiyan, but she remained, and he would pay if it was the last thing she did. Kakarot would not live a slave to Freeza's will.


	5. Fortunate Son

Chapter 5

395.

She carefully eyed every centimeter of the young man in front of her. His black eyes were brimming with determination and concentration, the wild wind did not distract him, the numerous forest insects flying around them did nothing to diminish his focus. His facial features did not betray what he felt or thought. His stance was a balanced one, shifting his weight on his left foot more than his right, he half crouched down as he lifted his right arm away from her, giving him a halfway sort of look. His feet remained firmly on the ground, yet he was able to comfortably shift them around as he needed. If his weighted clothing bothered him, he gave no indication. His uncut and wild hair whipped around with the wind, but thanks to his stance he was able to look at her clearly.

Only his hair reminded her of the boy she had left alone four years ago. His scouter beeped once, indicating her that he had scanned her as well.

Gritting his teeth, he broke his pose and removed his boots, his shirt and his wristbands, which fell to the ground with a _thump_.

580.

It still wasn't enough.

She knew better than anybody that a person's power level wasn't the only factor in deciding if they were a threat or not, her time as part of Bardock's squad had taught her that. She also had to take into consideration their form, their skill, their creativity and their processing speed, their weight, their combat experience. All these factors had to be taken into the fight, and she usually would have, but the difference was much too great. Any skill or creativity Kakarot had would be overwhelmed by the sheer difference between their power.

She placed both power levels side by side and compared them.

580. 3100.

Kakarot moved quickly, faster than she had expected. In an instant he had closed the gap between them. He threw a quick jab at her followed by a powerful knee to her stomach, both of which Fasha deflected with one hand. He would have to do better than that.

Angrily, Kakarot threw a flurry of punches at her stomach and chest, but only a few of them collided against her armor, and she barely noticed those. Fasha watched his power level rise steadily as he pushed himself further. Putting more energy into his blows, Fasha soon found herself having to actually try to avoid and deflect his attacks. An especially powerful kick managed to get her attention and she took that moment to read Kakarot's power level.

670.

She somehow managed to suppress a smile as she kept blocking and dodging his blows. By this time Kakarot would have been strong enough to be admitted as part of the army, albeit a low class warrior. But he was only sixteen years old and he was not even done growing, he held much promise. Just like his father. He also seemed to have inherited Bardock knack for improvising, seeing that his attacks weren't having any effect on her, he jumped behind her and grabbed her shoulders. Curiosity got the better of her and Fasha did not interrupt the motion, although she had plenty of time to do so. Using his greater muscle mass and slightly taller frame, he tossed her with all his might away from the clearing and towards the chasm on their right. Before she could readjust in order to get a better view of him, her scouter beeped, and she barely managed to raise her ki enough to prevent the powerful energy blast Kakarot had sent her way from colliding with her. Her scouter beeped twice, and displayed the attack's level.

1050.

With the same grace that she always flew, Fasha returned to the battlefield and was greeting by a wide kick to her shoulder, which she barely managed to block but left her shoulder feeling funny for the next few minutes.

She kept the game for a few more minutes, until she watched his power level decrease back down to 650. Sweat began to pour out of him like a river, and before the minute was over, his power level had gone down to 600. Thirty seconds later he was down to 550. By the time that minute was gone he went down to 430. Realizing that the fight was done Fasha sidestepped Kakarot's mid kick. By the time his leg was done extending, she had already punched his stomach twice and kicked him on his upper back, sending the younger Saiyan sprawling into the ground.

160.

"You have gotten much stronger, Kakarot. I'm impressed" she praised him with a soft smile on her face. His only response was a weak grunt as he tried to get back up. "Once your real training begins you'll become a very mighty warrior, just like your father."

"I'll be stronger than him!" he replied as he struggled to get back on his feet, partially succeeding. "I'll kill Freeza myself!"

With great interest, Fasha watched how Kakarot managed to stand up and look back at her with the same fierce determination he had had since the day he had learned how Bardock had died. She felt a warm glow spread from her chest when she saw him close his fists and adopt the same stance he had before.

380.

With a very large smile on her face, Fasha lowered her own power as best she could and flew at him. For a while he matched her blow for blow. She would throw a right punch and he would punch her right back, she went left to kick him and he responded with his own kick to her hip. As she noticed his own power increasing, she allowed herself a bit more energy, and soon their fight had erupted into a full blow conflict again. From where Kakarot got his energy she did not know, but before she knew it his power level had gone higher than it had before.

1100.

With effort, she managed to grab Kakarot and spin him around and around her, building momentum as best she could in order to send him flying. She then rushed behind him and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying upward before she rushed above him and elbowed him back down, earning a loud cry from him.

Before he crashed against the ground though, he flipped in the air and landed neatly. Her attack had only managed to anger him, and Fasha watched how his power level rose slightly.

1200.

Kakarot closed his eyes and opened his feet. He took a deep breath and calmed down somewhat. He placed his right and left hand together by his hip, joining them by the wrist. Opening his eyes, he looked at her directly and began charging his energy one more time.

"KA!"

A small blue energy orb appeared between his hands, and Fasha watched him, mesmerized.

"ME!"

Her scouter beeped again.

"HA!"

1300.

"ME!"

Reading the new power level, Fasha charged her own pink energy blast and held her ground, eagerly awaiting this unexpected challenge.

"HA!" Kakarot yelled as he threw his hands outward, pointing directly at her. The concentrated energy exploded in his hands and flew in a broad beam towards her, and she barely managed to throw her own pink blast at it to prevent it from hitting her.

The beams locked together, and a blinding flash blinded her momentarily. The loud crash was heard all around them; what few birds and animals were still nearby scattered at the sound of the mighty blasts colliding. The more Fasha pushed down, the more she realized she wasn't making much progress, Kakarot's beam held it's ground, and she feared placing more power on her own. She then realized that her scouter was beeping nonstop.

1800.

She gasped and lost her focus, and her own pink blast waned. Sensing her momentary weakness, Kakarot pushed harder, and the bright blue beam came rushing up to meet her, consuming her own pink blast along the way.

00

"That move" she asked Kakarot once her head had stopped pounding. "Is it your own?"

The young Saiyan looked at her with his black orbs seriously, and for a moment Fasha felt like she was looking at Bardock, he was his vivid image. The young Saiyan shook his head a few times before answering her.

"I met a... master of sorts."

"A master?"

"Yes, perhaps the strongest human I have ever met" he explained to her as he grabbed the leg of an animal whose name she kept forgetting, but was very tasty, if somewhat greasy. It was no wonder humans were so weak. "He trained me for two years after you left."

"And he taught you this..." she waved her hand, mimicking the blast he had performed in the afternoon.

"Kamehameha" he filled in for her.

"Kamekameha" she repeated.

"Kame_ha_meha" he corrected. Rolling her eyes, Fasha sat down and grabbed a leg, warriors could be so picky with their moves.

"You're getting much stronger" she said absentmindedly as she bit down on the leg.

"These humans are strong when they work together."

"So I've seen."

The two of them ate the entire animal (cow, Kakarot reminded her) in silence after that. After they were done, they tossed the bones aside and laid down on the ground, looking at the starred skies, their minds full of thought.

"What did you find?" Kakarot finally asked her, and Fasha felt like lying to him.

"What I expected. Freeza has solidified his hold on this quadrant. It's only a matter of time before he sends somebody to this world. I also managed to get a very interesting fact out of some of Freeza's trash... They said that there are only three Saiyans left in the galaxy, and the three of them work for Freeza."

"Lied to?"

"Perhaps... Or they could be working willingly with him."

"If they are..."

"If they are... then what?" she interrupted, her voice hard.

"Then they are our enemies."

With the corner of her eye, Fasha looked at Kakarot carefully. Despite being laid down on the ground his body was extremely tensed, as if ready to fight, his face did not betray what he felt, just ilke his father, but she had learned how to read him easily.

"Don't forget that they are our people, Kakarot... The last of our people if rumors are to be believed" she patiently spoke to him, so unlike the Saiyan she was, but there was something about him that soothed her, turned her into what Tora would have called a 'softie'.

"What do you mean?" he asked, looking at her with a confused face.

"What I mean is that you should not mark them as enemies too quickly... They might be blind, after all."

"Right. Sorry, Fasha."

"Don't worry about it."

The aliens stayed up late, each thinking about their current situation, the future, but above all, the battles they had yet to fight.


	6. Evil Invaders

Chapter 6

Fasha eyed each figure in the middle of the clearing with caution as she and Kakarot approached them, scanning their power levels and watching their conduct. They too, were eyeing her with distrust, but in their case it was due to her immense (to them) power, she was certain.

"Are these all?" she asked, and Kakarot nodded.

She started with the long haired one. He was the second tallest in the group, he had a few scars in his face and chest which marked him as a warrior, or at least for what passed as a warrior in this planet.

190.

Next was the tallest of them, he was bald and had a third eye in the middle of his forehead, which unnerved even Fasha, who had fought and killed more species than she could remember.

210.

A short bald kid was next to them, probably the same age as Kakarot.

205.

A tall green man stood aside from them, looking extremely sour. He gave the impression of not wanting to be there. At first she did not recognize him, but the small antennas on his forehead revealed him as a Namek. Wondering what a Namek was doing in Earth, she scanned him.

410.

With a sigh she shook her head and looked down. The Namek had some hope, but this would not do. But it was all they had. Reading her mind, Kakarot took a step forward and addressed his... friends, as he called them.

"Ok, now that everybody's here we can get started. I've told you all about Fasha, she got back and... well she's got something to say to all of you."

Kakarot stepped back and looked down at the ground, tapping the tip of his boots into the grass, obviously uncomfortable about the whole thing.

"Kakarot has told me that you're his... friends" she began crossing her arms over her chest. "I really didn't want to share this with anybody else but Kakarot's right, we can't handle what's coming alone... We need allies, and you four are the strongest in this planet" she said out loud. "Sad as that may be" she added to herself.

"Goku didn't tell us much about you other than you're a Saiyan like him" the small bald one said, while he still looked cautious of her, he seemed to be much more relaxed than the rest of his... friends. The words was still hard for Fasha to roll out of her tongue. Comrades, family, allies, brothers in arms, she could say those easily and mean them, but friends? The word itself was unnatural to her.

"Goku?"

"Ah... When you left... I returned to Gohan for a while, it was hard for him to say my name, so he started calling me Goku... um... The name kind of stuck he, he" he said as he scratched his face with a silly grin on his face. Nodding, Fasha continued.

"Kakarot has told you what you need to know. We're Saiyans, we're warriors and space pirates. We usually arrive at a planet, destroy every living being on it and sell the planet to the highest bidder. On planets with strong warriors we usually send a task force or even several squads, on planets as weak as this one, we send children to conquer them."

The tone with which she explained the Saiyan way of life caught most of them off guard, and the two tall men looked at her even more warily, and even at Kakarot with new found suspicion.

"You... you kill everybody in the entire planet?" the man with long haired asked her, his eyes wide with fear but the rest of his body never breaking position, he was still ready to strike should the need arise. Despite his low power level, he was a warrior.

"How else are we supposed to sell it? Would you buy a home if there were still people living inside?" she asked him, and she continued. "We Saiyans worked for Freeza, the man in charge of the entire organization, a tyrant, and a coward. His empire spans entire solar systems, he has at least 90 planets under his control, and many others being sold and traded. I was part of his army, until he betrayed us. He Saiyans were becoming much stronger than what we were, and realizing that we were a threat to his empire, the coward had us Saiyans killed, and he destroyed our planet with his own hands... Now... Now there's only five Saiyans left in the entire galaxy. Kakarot here, myself and three more. Those three are still working for Freeza, although I don't know if they are aware of Freeza's betrayal, the entire thing was very hushed even among his own army. If they are and they are still working for him willingly... then they have betrayed us as well."

"Why tell us this?" the Namek asked, and Fasha immediately sensed that she had rambled a bit too much.

"Freeza's grip on the section of the quadrant is solidifying... Soon he will target this world. Despite it's low class warriors, Earth's atmosphere and diversity make it the perfect planet to live. It'll fetch an extremely high price..."

"How much time do we have?" the Namek asked while the rest of the humans shook with fear at the revelation.

"A year... maybe more, maybe less, it all depends on whoever Freeza sends first."

"What do you mean, who he sends first?"

"As I said, I do not know if the three Saiyans that are left are on our side" she explained, and threw a sideways glance at Kakarot, who shifted uncomfortably. "or against us. If they are on our side we will have more time to train and maybe we'll stand a chance against Freeza... If they're against us..."

"Do you know them?"

"I'm certain who one of them is, the other two I don't know, but they don't worry me. Who worries me is the one I'm certain of... Prince Vegeta."

"Prince?"

"He's the son of our dead king. Vegeta the second... Last I heard of him his power level was 5000... when he was five years old."

Kakarot nearly fell to the ground when he heard that. The rest of them, unable to understand what power levels meant, nearly waited for her to explain. She was going to open her mouth when she realized that a demonstration would be better.

She spread her legs and placed her arms next to her hips, her hands slightly clenched. Focusing with all her might, she began charging her energy inside of her. She gritted her teeth as she focused harder and harder, drawing from her ki and spreading it across her body. She felt the surge of energy going to her legs, her chest, her back, her neck, her arms and her hands, making them stronger. Her senses sharpened and she felt how time slowed down, she saw the shocked looks on the humans' and Kakarot's faces as she raised her power level higher and higher. Her scouter beeped.

3200.

Groaning as her body protested to the massive surge of energy, she kept pushing herself, and soon her scouter beeped again.

3500.

Her jet black hair whipped wildly around her as her pink aura glowed brighter and wilder, making the earth shake beneath her. With one final push, her energy reached it's peak, and her light pink aura turned into a perfectly controlled hot pink wave. Without much effort, she charged her favourite attack. She moved her left leg back with her foot pointing away from her and bent her right one, crouching down. She with a quick move, she bent her arm at her hip and threw the energy volley at the sky like one would throw a Frisbee. The small pink disc-like blast flew upward until it was nothing more than a tiny speck of light in the sky. With a grin, Fasha closed her hand, and the single energy blast turned into five thin pink rays of energy, falling down towards them. Kakarot barely managed to dodge the attack, but the three humans were so stunned they were unable to move, and Fasha had to redirect the blast at the last moment to scorch their feet only. The Namek fared better than them, realizing that it was merely a demonstration, he opened his palms and raised his ki in order to resist the shock wave, which he did successfully.

The humans scampered to their feet and looked at her in awe, breathing heavily and quickly.

"What was that?" the short bald one yelled at her.

"I call it the Energy Ballet. It's very useful when facing multiple enemies" she said as her power level dropped back down to it's usual level. "Great for crowd control, but it doesn't matter. What you saw was my second most powerful attack... with a power level of 3500."

"Wait, what?" the tall bald one yelled, taking a step towards her, shaking even more than before. "You said that Vegeta guy had a power level of 5000 when he was a child!"

"Exactly... I don't know what his power level is right now, but undoubtedly it's high enough to kill me easily... if he's against us then we have little to no chance of defeating him unless we work together."

"Why should we trust you? I know that Goku considers this planet his home, but you, we don't know anything about you other than you're the same as those aliens that are coming!"

"What's your name?"

The man looked defiantly at her before answering with as much swagger as an elite Saiyan warrior.

"Yamcha."

He had not finished pronouncing his name when she had already dived her knee deep into his stomach. As he lurched forward she grabbed his hair and threw him aside. She then jumped up and kicked the bald one in the head before shooting a small energy blast towards the small bald one. The Namek reacted by charging his energy and throwing a large blast at her, but the pathetic attack did nothing but obscured her view and with a swift punch to the face, he too went down.

"Well Yamcha" she said as she walked towards the downed man screaming in pain. "Now you know another thing about me. I can kill all of you as easily as I can swat an insect away from my face, yet I am offering the chance to save your world. The only reason I am even talking to you is because Kakarot believes there is some degree of hope for this world" Fasha continued before placing her foot in the man's throat, squeezing softly. She watched Kakarot stir from his position, but with a soft movement of her hand she reassured him. Yamcha squirmed behind her softly and she continued. "You just experienced less than 1000 units of power, and you went down just like the rest of your friends. I'm offering you the chance to become stronger, to gain the power to defend your home. You can trust me and take it" she squeezed on his throat harder. "Or if you prefer, I can take Kakarot and train him and only him, leaving you to fend for yourselves." She removed her foot from his throat and walked to the middle of the clearing. "Kakarot and me will be training in this mountain range, near Mount Pazou. If you wish to join us then I will very gladly train you as best I can, if not then don't you dare interrupt our training."

And with that she flew away, leaving a bright pink trail behind her.

00

Kakarot watched as Fasha flew away. Once he decided she was far enough he went to each of his friends and placed half a senzu bean in each of their mouths, making sure he left Piccolo for last.

"What is her problem?" Krillin complained once he was completely healed, rubbing his arms and chest.

"She wanted us to feel first hand what we would face" Tien calmly explained to them. Of the three of them, he was the only one that didn't seem angry at Fasha for attacking them.

"Sadistic Bitch" he muttered once he stood up, earning a heavy glare from Kakarot. "Oh, come on!"

"You needed to feel it. She's stronger than all of us combined, and Vegeta could brush her aside like a fly... we really need to work together... Besides" Kakarot told Yamcha as he patted him in the back. "Doesn't you blood boil at the thought of somebody that strong? I for one want to be as strong as I can get, and believe me, Fasha knows what she's doing."

"Yeah, yeah" Yamcha waved him away, tired of all the Fasha stories Goku had told them over the past four years.

"So what are you going to do? You gonna come with us?" Kakarot asked, tapping his foot impatiently. The four of them remained quiet for a long time, until finally Piccolo simply shrugged and took off, following the general direction in which Fasha had gone. Krillin, Yamcha and Tien were a completely different matter, however. For at least ten minutes they spoke in shushed voices, as if they were afraid they would be heard. They held no distrust towards Goku, but Kakarot was an entirely different matter.

"No" Yamcha finally answered, making Kakarot blink a few times.

"No?"

"Sorry, Goku" Krillin told him, taking a step towards his friend. "But we've rather train with Kami. That way we can be sure your friends isn't..."

"Yeah" Goku answered, nodding a few times. "Just make sure to make the best of this time, there's a lot of things we don't know, so we better be ready for whatever comes."

"Don't worry Goku, we will."

And with that Goku turned around, walked to the middle of the clearing and took off, waving once to his friends as he did. Kakarot turned around and followed Piccolo's energy reading as indicated by his scouter. One year, it would have to do. Kakarot felt a small shiver all over his body as he imagined what a fight like that would be like. His imagination ran wild as he flew over the large forest, all the while Goku was hoping that he would be strong enough to protect this world. His world.

_00_

_ So a few fun facts about the story so far!_

_ Every chapter so far has been named after a song._

_ Chapter 1 Fight to the Death (White Wizard) On Bardock's struggle (duh)._

_ Chapter 2 Strange World (Iron Maiden) On Earth and Fasha's arrival._

_ Chapter 3 Symptom of the Universe (Black Sabbath) On the betrayal of the Saiyan race (the destruction of Planet Vegeta was the symptom, oh and despite what you might think, Freeza is not the disease, he's another symptom. But Oscar, what is the disease? Ah... that is the question)._

_ Chapter 4 Blessed Are the Strong (Artillery) On Fasha's understanding that she needs to be strong for herself, for Kakarot, for her race and for their future._

_ Chapter 5 Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival) On Kakarot's potential and progress, and how he inherited a few traits from Bardock which Raditz did not, making him the "Fortunate" son._

_ Chapter 6 Evil Invaders (Hypocrisy) On the Saiyans' and Freeza's imminent arrival._

_ Chapter 7 :o coming soon!_

_ Whenever the narrator (me) refers to Kakarot as Goku while narrating, it's because his "Earth Persona" is somewhat stronger, or dominant. For example it's Goku who says goodbye to Krillin, Yamcha and Tien, but it's Kakarot who wonders who he will be fighting in one year._

_ Fasha originally didn't have much of a personality, she is shown being caring for her comrades and to have something of a soft spot for babies (she encourages Bardock to go visit Kakarot), but other than that they basically gave me a blank character with an awesome back story, which works perfectly for me. Just don't forget, even if she seems kind and soft at times, Fasha is _still _a Saiyan ;)._

_ I changed the events of Dragon Ball somewhat so I'm gonna give you guys (and girls) a brief run down of what went down(insert Dragon Ball Z's bad ass narrator's voice here)._

_ So at the age of 12 Fasha left Kakarot to fend for himself while she explored the quadrant and gathered information. During this time the events of DBZ went on like expected, Goku gathered the dragon balls, Oolong wished for panties, Goku kicked the red ribbon army's ass, trained with Roshi and Korin and Kami and drank the water and stuff and King Piccolo appeared and Goku killed him at an earlier age (he's sixteen when Fasha returns). HOWEVER! Due to the fact that Kakarot (notice the name change) never got hit on the head her does retain some of his Saiyan traits, even if Earth tamed him somewhat, as well as the fact that Fasha made him stronger. Despite his friendship with Krillin, Yamcha and Tien, you will notice that he did not stop Fasha from kicking their asses. That's because unlike Goku, who will do anything to protect his friends, Kakarot does believe that the weak have no place in galaxy (not to mention his loyalty to his own race and above all, to FASHA, is above his loyalty to Earth and his friends). Unlike Vegeta and Nappa, who simply kill weaklings outright however, Kakarot believes that the weak deserve ONE chance to become stronger (an idea inherited from Fasha during their twelve years together and the numerous stories she told him of Bardock's amazing power despite being born a weakling, as well as his own experience). So, by this point in time, Piccolo Jr. no longer hates Goku as fervently as he did before, not to mention that Goku's stronger. So I guess that's it! Oh shit I forgot! Goku actually did meet Chi-Chi but this time he didn't touch her between her legs (since he knows the difference between a man and a woman now) so she never made him promise to marry her._

_ But Oscar, you might cry, what about Gohan! Well... fuck him._

_ Thank you so much for reading and giving me the inspiration to write! :) I don't know when the next chapter will be up, this one might actually take a while but hopefully not XD. Cheers! Feel free to comment on the story and what you think, I swear I won't get mad XD._


	7. We're A Happy Family

Chapter 7

Kakarot barely dodged the pink blast that almost took his head off and responded with his own attack, an energy blast volley as he flew backwards through the morning sky. With less than a split second warning, he twisted in midair and punched Piccolo straight in the stomach, dodging the swipe he threw at him, but the Namek had gotten stronger, and instead of crumbling over like he had expected, he responded with a brutal elbow to his back that sent him spiraling down to the ground. Before he managed to spin in midair and regain control, he felt a powerful kick to his head that turned his vision white and filled his mouth with blood. With the corner of his eye he saw how Fasha used the momentum she had gained from kicking him to launch herself at Piccolo, punching him straight in the jaw before kicking him down, just like himself.

The Namek and the Saiyan spiraled down towards the lush green forest like two downed planes, grunting with pain. Realizing they were at similar altitudes, they both opened their eyes and began to punch and kick each other in mid-crash, each scoring several strong blows before Fasha crashed down on them, kicking them both in their chests. Kakarot heard one of his ribs crack with a sickening crunch. Before he even had a chance to scream in pain however, Fasha had grabbed both of them by their necks and flew towards the ground even faster. When they were fifty meters from the ground she threw Piccolo against it with her left hand, sending the Namek crashing against the lush green grass and making a large crater. Wincing at his friend's defeat, Kakarot did not have time to process what Fasha did next.

As she threw Piccolo, she also spun around in the air and placed Kakarot's neck between her legs, pressing it against her pink bodysuit. She then flew at top speed towards the ground headfirst, dragging Kakarot behind her, screaming between her legs. When she was about to crash against the ground, she flipped up and drew her legs forward, placing Kakarot between herself and the ground. He only had time to take a deep breath before the ground hit his body hard.

He felt every bone in his body break as both the pressure from the blow and Fasha's own weight dug him deeper into the ground. Had he any air left in his lungs after the blow he would have screamed loudly. Sweating heavily, Fasha stood up, giving him an ample view of the person that had so thoroughly kicked his ass. She had some blood on the corner of her mouth where he had scored a nice hit a few minutes ago. Bruised, battered and tired, Fasha looked more like a Saiyan than before, and her beautiful face was filled with the same excited look that Kakarot knew he had had when the fight begun. Just when he thought she was done she pointed her open palm at him, and a tiny pink ball began to glow. Kakarot felt panic rising quickly in his chest and he did the only thing he could, he raised his power level as high as he could.

The pink energy ball hit him hard, but it would have killed him had he not acted out in desperation. Fresh, searing pain filled his brain until black walls began to close down in front of him, blocking his sight. Satisfied with her work, Fasha took a single green bean from her pocket and gently placed it in Kakarot's mouth before heading over to Piccolo and repeating the action.

Before a minute had passed, Kakarot felt the pain go away and the ability to move returned to his limbs. He and Piccolo got up roughly at the same time, both of them panting heavily. Pressing the large red button on his scouter, Kakarot scanned all three power levels, beginning by his.

2020.

1984.

6150.

Kakarot sighed, with pride and frustration at the same time. In the entire time they had spent training, Fasha had never been beaten by them, yet the gap between their power levels was getting even larger. Despite his best efforts, despite wearing weighted clothing as often as it was possible for him, only taking them off to wash them, Fasha still got stronger with every day. But not only was she getting stronger, her style was becoming more and more focused. When they had fought so many years ago, back when he was a child, Fasha's style had been a wild blur of jabs, kicks, punches and swipes, specializing with acrobatics moves that made her an even harder target, but they had been savage, they had been a wild and untamed force that destroyed anything on its path, and many times Kakarot came to the conclusion that it had been only her superior power level that had given her victory over his more precise, faster fighting style.

And ever since she had returned she had been progressively changing her style. Her kicks were no longer wild and unfocused, her swipes did no longer try to simply claw her enemy in the face, her jabs and punches now were only used to buy some room in order to bring her enemy down with a power kick or leg grab. One move that she had been mastered had proven to be particularly deadly, even more than her Energy Ballet.

She usually began it with a series of punches or swipes that were meant to drive the enemy on the defensive. She then followed it with a wide kick to the side that the opponent would undoubtedly block, the time spent on blocking however, she would use to bring her other leg above the first one and kick her opponent's head. With that same fluid motion she held her opponent's head with her boots and pulled him up, clenching her legs and using her thighs to keep him in place while she pounded away at his back. She would then fly straight down to the ground and perform the same finish she had just given Kakarot. It was brutal, and it would usually leave you with a broken back and ribcage if you were very lucky.

The three of them sat down in the middle of the same clearing they always went through after they trained.

"Much better" Fasha complemented them as her breathing returned to normal. "Kakarot, your reaction times are getting much better without raising your power level, I like what I'm seeing."

"I'm still not fast enough" he complained bitterly, pushing her compliment away until he felt worthy of it, like he always did. "But I'm getting there."

"Piccolo, you still seem to be having some trouble with your enemy blasts, they're draining too much of your power, but your martial skills more than make up for it, I think you should avoid using your techniques unless you really need them, a miss or even a near miss would be catastrophic for you."

The Namek merely scoffed, but acknowledged her recommendation. Piccolo might have been proud and arrogant, but he was also very wise and smart, and he knew good advice when he saw it. He was not one to let his pride blind him, and thus he was extremely adaptable to the situation, and a quick learner.

Kakarot highly respected Piccolo as an adversary, and fighting him was always enjoyable, but he sometimes wished that he had some of Piccolo's wisdom and learning skills. No matter what was placed in front of him, the Namek (Fasha had filled them in on the fact that Piccolo was not in fact, a demon as they had thought) would easily learn it, unlike Kakarot who had to try it himself before he could learn it.

The scouters beeped twice, and the three of them stood up at once. With a very serious look on her face, Fasha looked at both of them and nodded, they understood. They took off at the same time, Fasha headed back to the cave that she and Kakarot had called home ever since they had left Gohan's house, the same location where their pods were located, while Kakarot and Piccolo flew towards the tallest place on the Planet, Kami's lookout.

00

The two warriors arrived at the lookout at the exact moment Fasha contacted Kakarot to confirm what they already suspected.

"It's a Saiyan space pod. I don't recognize the identification number, but it's definitely Saiyan… He's alone."

"Good! Then we might just be able to talk to him and persuade him, I mean, he's probably not Vegeta, right?"

"Right, the Prince goes nowhere without his guardian dog" Kakarot heard her voice on his ear. Switching it off, he turned his head and smiled at Piccolo before landing on the lookout. The five men on the lookout looked up at them as they arrived and immediately stopped what they were doing.

"Goku!" a very recognizable voice greeted him, and the smaller figure of Krillin ran forward to meet him, stopping only to glance once at Piccolo. "It's great to see you, buddy!"

"Krillin! How's your training coming along?"

"Awesome!" the shorter human answered as he flexed his arm with glee. Punching the button on his scouter, Kakarot scanned their power levels.

1120.

1015.

1250.

He somehow managed to produce a smile as he hit his friend's hand with his open palm, a gesture Humans called high-five.

"You've certainly become much stronger!" Goku told his friend. It was true enough, Krillin had more than tripled his power in a single year, but even if he tripled it now it would not be enough, not if it was Vegeta, not if they were forced to fight. His tail tightened even harder around his waist.

"We're ready for whatever comes at us" Yamcha added as he walked towards Krillin and placed his elbow on the shorter Human's shoulder. Tien came forward and silently greeted Goku with a polite nod, to which Goku replied by quickly lifting his head and lowering it back down, another Human gesture. Sparing only a second to greet Kami and Mr. Popo, Goku informed his friends on the situation. Whatever glee they might have had at their friend's arrival was gone the moment he told them about the pod, replaced by a fierce determination and concentration.

"Does she know who is inside?" Yamcha asked as Goku rolled his eyes, even after an entire year, the man still couldn't pronounce her name or even refer to her without adding a tiny layer of contempt. Pride wounds, clearly, do not heal.

"We don't know, what we know is that it entered our scanners twenty minutes ago and it should enter Earth's orbit in an hour."

"Where?"

"I got the projected landing site" Fasha's voice came over Kakarot's scouter. "I'm heading there now, meet me there, Kakarot."

"Got it, on our way" he murmured to her. "Follow me, Fasha's on route to the landing site." The entourage was about to take off when they heard an elderly yet powerful voice behind them.

"Wait!"

The five of them turned around and saw the elderly Namek walking towards them, gripping his cane tightly. All three humans floated back down in respect, while Kakarot and Piccolo remained in the air.

"What is it, Kami?"

"Don't forget to go down to Korin's tower; he has a new batch for senzu beans he has been working on."

"I'll go get them" Krillin told them. "You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up!"

"You've worked very hard this entire year" Kami told the three humans, although he undoubtedly referred to the five of them. "I'm proud to call you my finest students, and Earth's mightiest protectors" the Namek praised them, and Yamcha's and Krillin's face was immediately covered with a broad smile once more. "However, don't underestimate your opponent's strength, you faced a quarter of their strength when Fasha attacked you, and know you will face their true colors. Do not lower your guard."

And with all the pieces falling in the right place, they actually began visualizing their plan, and small flickers of hope began to glow in their chests. The sun was still high in the air, shining down brightly on them, the cool wind brushed past them, the beautiful sight of lush, green forests, large, blue rivers and tall, grey mountains was a breathtaking sight, and Goku found himself smiling at the view. No… there was no way he was going to lose, not with this at stake, and with renew conviction, Kakarot tapped into his inner strength, and dashed faster than his friends were able to keep up.

Unlike Fasha, it was not hate that made him fight, it was not only his Saiyan instincts that made him want to meet and fight the alien coming to this world, it was the love he had for this Planet, he might be a Saiyan, but he had been raised on Earth, and this, not Planet Vegeta, was his home.

00

_No other Saiyan bothered him as he walked down the main road, slowly exploring the main street of his home city at the pace that being an elite warrior allowed him to take. Saiyans were really uncreative when it came to naming things, Raditz realized as he saw the name "Vegeta Road" on the sign on the right of the road. Hundreds of homes were aligned side by side in the low class sector, starting with the weakest Saiyans and going up all the way to those that were near Raditz caliber. With a sigh, he passed a tiny home, the smallest of all, with the name "Kakarot, son of Bardock" in front of it. He wanted to enter it, he wanted to go inside, but the house was much too small, and he was forced to keep walking._

_ "You must never forget who you are" Bardock spoke to him as they walked side by side. "You must never be ashamed to say you are a Saiyan and that Kakarot is your brother, you two are the last of the Saiyans, the last of us."_

_ "He's weak… He's not like you or me."_

_ "He is your brother, and he's stronger than you think. Never forget that both of you are Saiyans, but more importantly, both of you are my sons."_

_ Raditz was silent as he watched his father leave yet again, turning into dust as they walked. Vegeta and Nappa took his place, walking past him and taking the lead, forcing him to watch as they took out the strongest warriors for fun, becoming even stronger than him and leaving him behind yet again. Anger and frustration rose in his chest hotter and hotter until it became a boiling pain inside of him. Raditz screamed, and the houses around him crumbled to dust. Freeza laughed at him, and he realized that he wasn't alone. To his side King Vegeta knelt down even farther than him, Nappa was down on his knees and elbows, praising the tyrant. Hundreds of thousands of Saiyans were kneeling down at Freeza, including him._

_ Only Vegeta stood up against him, accompanied by the one figure he did not expect to see. Vegeta and Kakarot stood side by side, unbowed, unbent, unbroken, until Freeza's laugh pushed them down, and only Kakarot remained on his feet, defiant until the end. Again Freeza laughed, and again Kakarot stood his ground while Vegeta cowered, and Raditz felt how his chest swelled with pride at his little brother._

_ In front of them another figure walked towards Kakarot, and Raditz recognized the green armor almost immediately. With a large smile on their faces, Bardock and Kakarot rushed to meet Freeza, leaving Raditz behind. He yelled at them, he managed to stand up and stretch his hand at them, he flew after them, but his father and brother were already far ahead, and they and Freeza exploded into a bright flash of light, consuming them all._

_00_

High above the planet's orbit, inside a flaming metal sphere, Raditz opened his black, gleaming eyes for the first time in an entire year.

00

_Fun facts!_

_This chapter is also named after a song :p_

_Chapter 7: We're a Happy Family (Ramones) on Raditz and Kakarot's relationship._

_The reason why Piccolo doesn't hate Kakarot as much as he did is because Kakarot did not kill King Piccolo out of some desire to protect the Earth, he killed King Piccolo because he realized it would make him stronger, therefore it wasn't personal. Aside from that, Piccolo and Goku fought many times before, with Goku always showing mercy to Piccolo due to the fact that Piccolo was the strongest sparring partner he had, and it made both of them stronger. Slowly, their fights to the death became the hot headed rivalry they have when Raditz arrives, since it was Goku's (again, name change) instead of Gohan's friendship that tempered Piccolo somewhat._

_How do you like Kakarot's progression? I personally think I was making him a bit too much like Bardock, so that's why I started adding the Goku segments to his personality :D_


	8. Screaming For Vengeance

Chapter 8

Raditz stepped out of his pod and stretched his legs for the first time in one year. They were understandably stiff, but that would be corrected soon. The planet's gravity was lower than he expected, and he was able to lift himself without any effort at all. He pressed his scanner and began scanning his surrounding area, to his surprise a very fat man was looking at him with a scared look on his face.

5.

"As expected" he said to himself, chuckling softly. "The people here are so weak I'm surprised they can even stand on their own... But why are even any left alive? Kakarot should have gotten rid of them by now..."

He took began floating higher and higher, and the foolish man fired his pathetic weapon at him at speeds so slow that Raditz was able to easily see the projectile rushing towards him. With his open palm he grabbed the tiny object and examined it. It was metallic, with somewhat of a knife-like shape. It must have worked by lodging itself into the target and making it bleed to death because there was no way this could go through a warrior's armor. Without even looking at the man, he threw the projectile back at him, missing him by an inch and crashing it against the man's vehicle. His scouter beeped once and read a power level of 550.

"Wha-wh-what?" the man stammered beneath him. Ignoring him completely, Raditz took off in the direction his scouter pointed.

"That must be Kakarot!"

With the speed only years of living at a higher gravity could grant, Raditz soared through the air, his large black mane flowing behind him as he gritted his teeth in anger. What had happened here? Had Kakarot proven too weak? Where there stronger warriors in this planet? Something was not right, his little brother would have a lot to answer for.

00

"He's coming" Kakarot said, making sure he did not increase his power level by mistake.

"Right, stick to the plan, you don't know anything about him" Fasha's voice came over.

Giving her an affirmative, Kakarot turned off his scouter's communicator and began pretending to train in the large grassy plains. After a few minutes the Saiyan showed up, he fell from the sky in a blur, crashing against the ground roughly, obviously for show, and looked at him in contempt. Kakarot stopped training and turned his head to him. He had long black hair that reached past his knees, his black eyes held a gaze that spelled murder, he was wearing standard Saiyan battle armor. Low class, by the look of his colors (Fasha had taught him what the colors meant). He had the standard model that had been given to the Saiyan army during the last years of... well, the army. He wore no bodysuit under it, only small black shorts that barely reached his thighs, leaving most of his legs exposed. He had two red bands, one on his left leg and another on his left arm.

"I recognized you right away, Kakarot... You're his vivid image" the Saiyan said as he crossed his arms, drinking Kakarot's appearance in.

"You must have me confused for somebody else, I'm Goku."

The Saiyan seemed confused by his response, just like they had planned. His tail twitched a few times before wrapping around his body like a belt, unlike Kakarot, who kept his tail free and loose, slowly swinging from left to right with the movements of his body.

"Kakarot! What is the meaning of this? Why are all these creatures still alive? Why haven't you fulfilled your mission?"

"You must be hard of hearing. I said my name is Goku, leave me alone."

"You... You don't remember don't you? Have you forgotten completely?"

At that moment Kakarot pretended to notice his tail for the first time and widened his eyes slightly, hoping he was being too obvious.

"You have a tail" he stated... "Who are you?"

"You forgot... or were never taught... but you must have been shipped with basic instructions in your pod, you must have been shipped with the training simulator in your pod, they can't have missed that!"

"Who are you?" Kakarot repeated, turning around to face the Saiyan completely.

"Kakarot, when you where young, did you suffer a head injury? Were you ever injured severely?" The Saiyan demanded, taking a step forward. Kakarot nodded once, glad that the Saiyan himself had provided a reason for his amnesia.

"Damn it! I can't believe this! Just my luck, this just figures" the Saiyan kept muttering to himself, clenching his fists tightly in anger. He finally turned to face Kakarot and looked him straight in the eye. "What have you been doing these sixteen years?"

"Training" he answered simply. "Who are you?"

"Training... well at least it wasn't completely wasted time. We can still finish your task here and report to Freeza."

Kakarot's hand turned into a fist.

"Who... are... you?"

"Fine, let me explain... As you might have guessed by know, you and I are similar. You might have noticed that none of these... creatures have tails, right?"

"Right."

"That's because you were not born in this planet, Kakarot. You were born in Planet Vegeta, a planet far away from this pathetic rock. You are not part of this race, you are a Saiyan, just like me" he explained, and Kakarot narrowed his eyes in disbelief. The Saiyan allowed that to sink in and waited for some sort of response.

"Aside from the fact that we both have tails I fail to see another resemblance between us, why should I believe you?"

"Why Kakarot, you wound me. To think you would not remember me, your own brother" the Saiyan answered, mockingly. This time he did not have to pretend to be shocked, he felt his own mouth opening and his eyes widened. That's who he was, his brother. "That's right, baby brother, come give your brother Raditz a hug!" Raditz finished, laughing a few chuckles at Kakarot's reaction.

"Raditz..." he repeated, pressing the button on his scouter. "It's not Vegeta."

"Uh... What? Who are you talking to? How do you know who Vegeta is?"

"He's got a power level of 1200, we're fine."

"What? Hey, don't ignore me, Kakarot! Who are you talking to?"

"You'll find out in a moment, brother. We knew that a Saiyan space pod had entered the quadrant, but we didn't know who it was. We feared it was Vegeta."

"We?" Raditz repeated, his fists and teeth still clenched in anger. "Who is we?"

As if on cue, Fasha dropped from the sky just behind Raditz, who responded by kicking back at her, aiming for her chest. With a fluid motion, Fasha twirled right and grabbed his leg, holding him firmly as she lifted him and smacked him against the ground. Before he had a chance to respond, she kicked him on his stomach and sent him flying upward, only to dash up and elbow him to the ground again. The Saiyan groaned in pain as the hard ground hit his face, but he still managed to get up. The damage he had suffered was not bad, despite the fact that Fasha was more than capable of killing him.

"Raditz, last time I saw you, you were about Kakarot's age, maybe younger. You were leaving on your first mission alone to conquer Planet... Maraan was it? I don't remember anymore. You haven't changed much, still the vivid image of your mother aren't you?"

Raditz, visibly shocked, looked at his attacker, looked hard, and began to search his brain for any indication of who this woman was. It wasn't her face, her hair, her voice or her tail that told Raditz who she was, although he deduced she was a Saiyan as well, it was the reference to his first mission. His father had been there to see him off, his mother had been there, even though she was expected to give birth to his brother any day, and-

"Fasha" he mumbled as he stood straight up. "What are you doing here?"

"Now, now" she said as she walked towards him. "Is that any way to greet your dear aunt Fasha, Raditz?"

"We're not related" he corrected her. "What are you doing here? Kakarot's the only one supposed to be here!"

"I'm hurt Raditz, there's only five Saiyans left in the galaxy and you wonder what I'm doing here."

"I'm surprised, you were supposed to be in Planet Meat, I assumed you have died... along with everybody else."

"Really? I guess I got lucky, just like you" she said as she took one final step, her face only centimeters from his. "Where were you when Planet Vegeta exploded?"

"I was on a mission, I didn't hear about the meteor until I came back. Freeza gathered me, Nappa and Vegeta and told us all about it. I didn't have anything to do with that, if that was what you were suggesting."

"Not in the least... It's good to know that you aren't loyal to Freeza, not really."

"What? What do you mean."

"Well, if you had been loyal to Freeza, I mean really loyal, we would have killed you... well, Kakarot would have" she said, pointing at the younger Saiyan.

"Don't make me laugh" Raditz said as he pressed the button on his scouter again. He was about to continue his sentence when his scouter displayed Kakarot's real power level, making him gape in shock. To increase his surprise and suddenly fear, his scouter displayed six power levels in total, most of them higher than his.

2020.

1984.

6650.

1015.

1250.

1120.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Raditz removed his scouter and was about to crush it when he noticed Fasha grinning broadly.

"It's not broken" she told him as she handed him her. "Wanna use mine?"

Too shocked to respond, Raditz did nothing, and after a few seconds Fasha withdrew her hand and placed her scouter back on again.

"How?"

"Like Kakarot said, we've been training Raditz. You'll be surprised just how strong you can become when you aren't off killing people much weaker than you and actually focus on getting stronger... But that doesn't matter right now, what matters is that we tell you the truth."

"The truth? What the hell are you talking about? How is that you're so strong? And why are you here? And why hasn't Kakarot-" he yelled, and Fasha responded by slapping him straight in the face, leaving a bright red mark on his face.

"Shut up!"

"What was that for?"

"One, you wouldn't shut up. Two, your father would have wanted me to give you one for working with Freeza" Fasha answered in a matter-of-fact tone. The mention of his father and the knowledge that the woman in front of him had fought side by side with him was enough to calm down even the arrogant Saiyan for a while, and he remained quiet for the first time since he had landed, which was unusual for him. Raditz loved listening to his own voice. "You need to know the truth about Planet Vegeta."

"What do you mean?"

"Planet Vegeta was not destroyed by a meteor you fool!" she yelled as she took another step forward, making Raditz lean back. "Freeza destroyed it! Freeza killed every last Saiyan in Planet Vegeta! And when Bardock stood up to him, when your father tried to kill Freeza he killed him. He killed Bardock! He killed Berean!"

The mention of their parents made both Kakarot and Raditz look down at the ground in pain. Some kinks ran in the family, Fasha noted with morbid amusement.

"I... I knew it" the Saiyan said softly, and Fasha almost smacked him again. "Freeza told us and then sent us on another assignment, probably so we wouldn't hear the chatter, but everywhere we went... we would get the looks... and we would hear rumors... I knew it..."

Fasha was about to slap him again for having bent his knee willingly when she heard a tiny sound coming from the younger Saiyan. It came again, slightly louder, and she saw a single drop fall from his eyes into the ground where his face had landed not ten minutes ago. The tear stained the ground and turned it a darker brown than the rest, until another fell next to it. A few more tears fell and Fasha saw how Raditz' fists turned white from the strength he was clenching them with.

"Raditz?" Kakarot asked, stepping forward. Even he knew that Saiyans weren't supposed to cry, Fasha had mentioned many times how despite having seen most of his squad murdered, Bardock had not shed a single tear. Saiyans did not cry, never.

"I knew it... and Vegeta knew it, and Nappa knew it, and we kept working for him" Raditz continued, his shoulders and arms shaking in quiet rage as he silently cried, keeping his eyes open despite the shame he must have felt at the moment. "He killed him... he reduced us to nothing... and I knew it..."

With that the Saiyan warrior turned around and walked away from Fasha and Kakarot, brushing past the three creatures that were stronger or just as strong as he was and kept going. Nobody moved, nobody said anything until he was twenty meters away from the group, where he knelt on the ground. Fasha's scouter beeped.

1600.

Raditz' power level raised in a second, and his bright white aura flashed wildly. With a powerful scream, he began pounding at the ground again and again, until large chunks of earth began to fly away from him as he began to create a crater similar to the one his pod had created. Again and again Raditz pounded at the ground, screaming until he ran out of air. He pounded at the ground until his power level went back down to 800. By the time Fasha and Kakarot arrived and knelt down next to him he was breathing heavily and sweating, and large tears still fell from his eyes.

"Brother?"

"I knew it... He killed our parent's Kakarot... and I knew it."

"Stop beating yourself over this" the youngest Saiyan told him, placing a brotherly hand on his shoulder. In complete contrast to his previous attitude, his brother did not shove him away or mocked him or even made a snappy remark.

"We won't let Freeza get away with betrayal, Raditz... But we can't do it alone" Fasha told him as she too placed a hand on his shoulder. "I fought with your father many years, and I got to know him better than most people, and I know that he would want you to fight Freeza, just like he did. But more importantly, he would want you to fight with your brother."

Raditz looked up at the woman to his right, then to his brother at his left, and then back down at the ground he had destroyed in his anger. He nodded once.

"Vegeta and Nappa... they know... they know."


	9. Any Place But Here

Chapter 9

Fasha, Kakarot and Raditz silently ate as the two large cows slowly cooked themselves by the fire they had made. The flickering and cracking of the fire mixed with the sounds of swallowing, chewing, of flesh being ripped from bone, of bones snapping, of bone marrow being sucked down hungrily. The Saiyans ate piece after piece after piece, until only the carcass of the dead animals remained. When they were done, Kakarot threw them some fruit he had picked on the forest, and they proceeded to tell each other tales of their battles.

Fasha spoke a little of her exploration of the galaxy during the period of time she abandoned Kakarot, but her favorite subject was her numerous battles with Bardock and their squad. Both Raditz and Kakarot listened intently, for their father had always been a source of great interest for both of them. They probed a few times about their mother, but Fasha openly ignored them when they asked anything related to her. Raditz later told them of his many missions with Vegeta and Nappa, but unlike Fasha, his voice was not filled with pride at his exploits, and she found herself wondering if he was diminishing his part in the fights, since from what he told them he often stayed in the sidelines for the most part.

Kakarot was the last to share, for he was the one with the least stories to tell, at least to Fasha. He told them about how he met most of his friends and of the places he saw, stories that bored both Raditz and Fasha, although the latter hid it well, unlike the former. He then got into how he met Piccolo, and at that moment his brother began getting interested again. Raditz winced when Kakarot told him how they had been enemies and he had showed mercy to him, and the older brother told the younger one the same sermon Fasha had given him a few times, about not taking any chances when they fought Freeza and his minions, and to kill on sight unless they had some use for any of them. Slowly, the rest of the evening turned into an unforeseen tactical discussion, with Kakarot arguing that speed in the initial assault was essential to the conquest of new worlds. Raditz thought differently, and he argued that planning the assault during fool moonlight was the key, until Fasha disproved both of their arguments by pointing out that speed would be useless in the numbers they had, and that Freeza knew of their ability to transform, and undoubtedly would destroy the moon or even the entire planet, and they would not be able to control themselves while transformed, rendering their greatest strength invalid against the Tyrant.

Their only hope was to strike from the shadows, quickly attacking and retreating into the dark before the bulk of Freeza's forces could find them. They would have to strike with precisely, quickly, and hard.

"We're still just assuming it'll be just us three" Kakarot pointed out bluntly as he licked his teeth clean and sucked on the last pieces of meat stuck between his teeth.

"You've been with them for years Raditz, what do you think? Will they join us?"

"I can't really answer that. They hate Freeza as much as I do, but join with us? It's true that we have gotten stronger but... But Vegeta's power level is still higher... even higher than yours Fasha, by far."

"What's the highest you've ever seen him?"

"I'm not sure. The highest I've ever seen him go is 17,000, but I'm almost certain he wasn't using all of it" Raditz said dejectedly as he threw a tiny bone at the carcass lazily before throwing his body to the ground and laying down on the grass. "You wanna know the sad part? Most of Freeza's runts are around that area."

"What?" Kakarot yelled, unable to comprehend how every single individual of an entire army could be stronger than the strongest person he had seen in his entire life, the person he had naively thought to be the strongest in the universe.

"I thought so, time has made them strong, just like us" Fasha spoke, almost to herself as she stood up and walked away from them. She removed her armor and threw it down on the ground, followed by her gloves and her boots, leaving her only in her pink bodysuit. "If this continues nothing will change... What we need is more time... we just need more time."

"Well time isn't something you can just take when you need it" Raditz commented without opening his eyes. "When I fail to report Vegeta and Nappa will know that something's wrong and they'll either come looking for me... and I doubt that, or they'll tell Freeza that I died in the last mission or something... that should give us some time, but I'm not sure."

"Actually" Kakarot finally said, his voice thoughtful and far away as his eyes stared at Fasha's figure away from them. "We might just be able to take the time we need... We just might be able to."

"What do you mean?" Fasha asked him, wondering what he meant.

"There's a place in this Planet" he began, standing up and removing any crumbs from his orange outfit as he walked towards her, leaving Raditz in the ground, interested on what his brother was going to say but not interested enough to get up and look at him. "A place called the room of Space and Time... access to it is restricted, heavily restricted. I have never been allowed to use it, actually, but when I trained with Kami, he said that if you entered that room, every minute that passed in this world was six hours in that place. You could spend an entire year training in that room and only a single day would pass in this dimension. I'm not sure I believed him when he said it, but the things I've seen then, the things you've told me... I don't find it that hard to believe anymore."

"You're telling me that there's a place in this planet where we can train for an entire year in one day and you've never mentioned this before?" Fasha yelled at him, grabbing him roughly by the collar. Fasha had beaten Kakarot many times, several of them withing inches of death, but it had always been training, never because she was angry. She had never hurt Kakarot outside of training, never laid an angry hand on him, until now. She hit him so fast he didn't even saw the blow coming, only felt the red stinging mark left on his cheek by her hand. "Why did you never mention this before? Why didn't you say anything until now?" she yelled at his face, furious at him for keeping such important information to himself.

"I... I didn't think it was necessary!" Kakarot defended himself.

"What? Are you mad, Kakarot? I've told you time and again about Freeza's power, about Bardock's power and how even he was crushed like an insect by Freeza! I've told you how our entire team was killed by a single of Freeza's men! And you thought that a place that would allow us to become stronger in such a short period of time wasn't necessary? You thought that at the rate we're advancing it would be enough? It's not enough to even stand up to Vegeta, much less Freeza and his army!"

"But, but" he stammered, and Fasha hit him again.

"But what?"

"I just... I've never seen anybody stronger than you" he said, looking straight into her purple eyes with his own black orbs, and despite his face, despite his hair, despite the way he looked at her, just like Bardock looked at her, Fasha felt like she was talking to a stranger. For the first time in her life she saw Kakarot not as Bardock's son, but as his own person. A naive person. A person that had never experienced what it was to face a power so overwhelming that it made you feel like you were nothing. Kakarot had never stared at death in the face and walked away. Despite the beatings she had given him, despite his many adventures and his fights with Piccolo, Kakarot had never stared at death in the face, not like Fasha had, not like Bardock had, not even like Raditz had.

00

It was almost morning by the time Fasha managed to get some sleep, most of her time at night had been devoted to watching Kakarot and Raditz sleep inside the cave she and Kakarot had called home for the past 17 years and having a strong sense of Déjà Vu.

Living in this cave had made Fasha feel like back in Planet Vegeta, when she was but a little girl and the Saiyan-Tuffle War had not yet started. Her family would sleep all thrown in the ground of a cave, with the cold winds coming from the outside and forcing them remained huddled together for heat. For the past 17 years she had told herself that what she felt was merely the fact that they were in a cave, nothing more. It had been easy when it had just been Kakarot and herself, but with Raditz sprawled in the ground, taking up almost half the space to himself, she could not really deny the fact that she felt more like a Saiyan now, in this strange world than she ever did back in Planet Vegeta.

She returned her mind to the task at hand and reviewed the following day, yet again. They would spend all morning warming up, they would have breakfast and then they would fly to the Lookout, where they would meet Piccolo and enter the room that Kakarot had told them about. Kakarot had told her that access was restricted, but there was no force strong enough in this world to keep her from entering that room. She would tear the lookout apart piece by piece if anybody tried to stop her. Not even Vegeta himself could have kept her from that room. She was entering it, and that was final.

00

Piccolo finished meditating and slowly made his way to the lookout's exterior, where he was greeted by Kami and Mr. Popo, both of whom respectfully greeted him like they always would. He finally gave up and returned the salute, albeit only with a nod.

"You've come early Piccolo, our Saiyan guests have not yet arrived."

"You seem certain that they will come, what makes you think that they will? What could they possible gain in here that they can't training in the mountains?"

The old Namek breathed in and out a few times slowly, probably did it on purpose, Piccolo thought. He knew just how much that exasperated him. But he would not give him the satisfaction of seeing him exasperated, not this time. He patiently waited until his older half decided he deserved an answer.

"You will know when they arrive" he finally said. Gritting his teeth, Piccolo returned to his room and continued meditating, he had better things to do than listen to Kami breath and jerk him around like an idiot. He didn't know how much time they had, nobody really knew, not even the new Saiyan that had arrived, but they knew that they needed to become stronger, and quickly.

If what that Saiyan had said was true, then this Vegeta person was powerful enough to take all seven of them, easily. The only one that was probably worthy of his attention was Fasha, but likely she would easily fall when she fought him. What drove Piccolo insane was the fact that the five of them were Saiyans, they had a common enemy (again if you believe the Saiyan) and they had no planet left. One would think that all this would lead them to band together and take on this Freeza individual, but no, this creatures were stubborn to the point of being fools. He had learned that from Goku before he even met Fasha, the young Saiyan had fought and left him for dead at least twelve times, and not once had he tried to kill him when he was weak, always stating that Piccolo was too much fun to fight to kill. Smiling to himself, Piccolo remembered that he had done the same thing a few times, some Saiyan stubbornness must have rubbed off him, because he had also come to the same conclusion as Goku, or Kakarot, or whatever his name was. Fighting the Saiyan had made both of them so strong, he really didn't want to kill him. Sure he wanted to pound him and beat him and crush his bones against the ground again and again, but he didn't really want to kill him. To kill him would mean to end his rivalry with the strongest opponent he had faced in Earth, but more importantly, to kill him would earn him Fasha's wrath, and that would mean his death, his very painful, and very slow death.

Piccolo raised his ki and kept thinking, immersing himself in thought. The Saiyan woman was fascinating. She hated this man Freeza with all her might, but if there was something that surpassed that hate, it was her love for Kakarot. They had not spoken much during the year he had spent training with them (after all he didn't particularly enjoy their company, and thankfully the only time the Saiyans actually spoke and had a conversation was when they were eating, which only happened three times a day), but he had learned a lot from the way the two of them interacted. When they were fighting, Goku and Fasha fought like their lives depended on winning, they would brutally pound each other until they were a heap of broken bones that could barely move, but when training was over, they would show what probably passed for kindness and concern between Saiyans. Fasha would eye Goku carefully with the corner of her eye while she ate, looking for any hidden wounds he might have not told her about, and he would constantly try to look at her without drawing her gaze. Had they been humans Piccolo would have thought they were doing that stupid ritual humans called flirting, but considering the fact that they were Saiyans, Piccolo was forced to think outside the box.

Fasha obviously wanted Goku to be at his full strength so that they could fight better, and she wanted him to be uninjured so that they could continue training, but the way her eyes glittered whenever he showed any pain outside of training, whenever he felt sick or something bothered, it was similar to the way a mother wolf would look after her cubs, or the way a lioness would lick and watch over her babies until they were ready to move again. He didn't know if all Saiyans were like that, or if it was only their women, or if it was only Fasha, but it seemed like she took it upon herself to ensure that Goku became stronger, to ensure he was always fine and that nothing ever hurt. It's like she wanted him to succeed and progress as fast as possible, even at the cost of her own progress. Fasha's power was enormous, but he knew that she could be much stronger if she focused more on her own training rather than training Goku. To a warrior race like them, in which strength was everything, giving up strength to ensure another one would become stronger was like a human giving their fortune away to another human with no strings attached, it simply did not happen. The only conclusion Piccolo could come to was that Fasha cared more about him than she did about herself, even more than she did about defeating Freeza and avenging her race. And that's when it hit him, she didn't really want to avenge the dead Saiyans, well she did but it wasn't what drove her. She knew that killing Freeza meant nothing to the dead, and that she had already lost them, but she had not lost Goku, and she would not lose him.

It was already noon by the time Piccolo finished creating Fasha's mental profile and added it to the rest of his profiles, along with Goku's, Krillin's, Yamcha's, Tien's, Kami's and the newly arrived Saiyan. He would have to watch him closely to discover his weakness and the best way to take him down. By the time he opened his eyes and lowered himself back on the ground, the Saiyans had arrived.

He exited his room, leaving his white cape and turban behind, he would not need them anymore. He climbed the white stone steps that led to the outside, and found Mr. Popo waiting for him. The black man pointed at Kami, and he nodded, silently thanking him, even if he didn't need help.

Kami was clutching his cane harder than usual, Piccolo noticed. Small beads of sweat fell down from his forehead as the three Saiyans confronted him. Fasha was in the middle of the two Saiyans, taking her unspoken yet unchallenged role as leader of the three.

"We will enter that room, Namek" she almost spat out. "We need to become stronger. We're this planet's best hope and you know it!"

"Goku can enter, but you two can't" Kami refused, firmly standing his ground. "I trust him with this planet's future, but you two do not care in the least about what happens to this planet. You will not enter."

"We need to become stronger, old man" she said as she took a step forward. "I will not let you stand in our way. You know our goal, I have no ill will towards Earth, and helping me is in your best interests. Take us to the room or I will tear this place apart piece by piece."

The old Namek did not falter in the face of such strength, Piccolo noticed with respect, and he stepped forward to join them. The three Saiyans turned to face him, and Goku greeted him with a small nod, while Fasha simply looked at him, acknowledging his presence.

"Kami, let them in" he said, quickly thinking of a way to appease the Saiyans.

"Piccolo" he answered coldly. "You agree with them, then?"

"Well considering this woman has the power to blow this place out of the sky with ease, I think we should do as she says" he said out loud. "Send me and Goku in, you trust us both that much, at least? Send him in and she will be appeased, reject him and she will tear you to pieces" he added mentally.

Kami was silent for a long time, and Piccolo noticed both the long haired Saiyan and Fasha's teeth gritting in impatience. He added "impatient" to the new Saiyan's profile.

"Fine" he finally answered. "The room can only hold two people at the same time, however. Goku and Piccolo will enter it first. When they come out, you two will go inside. Those are my terms and they will not change."

Fasha gritted her teeth harder and for a moment Piccolo was certain she would refuse, telling Kami that she and Kakarot should go in first, but she looked down and closed her eyes, thinking hard. She nodded, and Piccolo's respect for the woman's selflessness increased. The long haired Saiyan, Raditz, he noticed Goku say, yelled in anger saying he was the older brother and should go in first, but Fasha quickly quieted him and flew away, telling Kami that she would enter the room tomorrow. Raditz spat at the ground before leaving, telling Goku to become as strong as possible and to waste no time goofing around. Ironic, Piccolo thought, considered that Goku was stronger than Raditz, but he kept quiet while the older brother flew after Fasha.

"You aren't letting her in aren't you?" Goku asked Kami as he led the two of them deeper into the Lookout.

"I shouldn't even allow you in" Kami answered without looking back, and Piccolo had no doubt that Kami meant him, not Goku. "But I don't trust those two, their minds are too clouded by anger, thoughts of revenge fill their minds, leaving little room for anything else.

"I knew that she was angry at Freeza, but I didn't knew she was that angry" he said as he placed his hands on the back of his head and crossed his fingers together, looking at the white ceiling as they walked. "I guess Raditz isn't much of a surprise, he's been furious ever since we told him, but Fasha? Is revenge really all she thinks about?"

Piccolo sighed inward, the boy truly was blind wasn't he?

"It occupies much of her mind" Kami sadly told him, and then in a lighter tone, he added. "The rest is occupied by thoughts of you, and your father."

"Me?"

"Aside from revenge, the only thing that she cares about is your well being. You are the single most important thing in her life, Goku."

When Goku remained quiet, using his not overused Saiyan brain a bit too much for Piccolo's taste he finally opened his mouth.

"Have you not noticed how hard she works to train you? Have you not noticed how she slows down her own training to ensure you continue progressing? If that isn't a Saiyan caring for another one, I don't know what it is."

Goku looked down at the ground, his mouth half open as he thought on what to say for a long time, until he decided that he didn't need to say anything. They finally arrived at a large white door in the middle of the Lookout. Kami turned around and looked at both of them gravely.

"The room you are about to enter is not pleasant, not at all. It will lead you to another dimension, one in which time and space are different from our own. Heat and cold do not exist there, and the very room itself will pressure you for as long as you remain in there. There is food and water to last for a year as well as beds and everything you might need. The place is endless, so you can train without fear of running out of room or damaging it. There are two things you need to remember always. One, you must not damage the entrance. It must remain untouched or you will be trapped inside that dimension for ever, with no way out, do you understand?" he seriously asked them, and they both nodded. "Two, at the end of the year you must leave the room. If you remain there for more than one year the gate will shut behind you, and you will be trapped as well. This is a grave risk that you're running, one slip, one careless mistake, and you will never see Earth again. Do you understand me?"

Again, the two of them nodded. With a flick of his hand, Kami opened the door, and a bright white light filled their sight and blinded them. They felt Kami's hands on their backs, pushing them forward, and they entered the room, still blinded by the bright lights. The door shut behind them with a loud _thud_. The second Piccolo felt the door close he wished he had stayed outside, out of this room, it didn't matter where, as long as it was away from here. Any place. But here.

00

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 8 Screaming For Vengeance (Judas Priest) or on Raditz' reaction to the news about Planet Vegeta._

_ Chapter 9 Any Place But Here (Anthrax) or on Piccolo's reaction to the Room of Space and Time._

_ In both the Anime and the Manga Piccolo is said to be the most intelligent of the Z fighter's, yet if you notice it, he never really says or does anything extremely clever (except in very few occasions such as telling Super Boo to kill everyone on Earth first in order to buy Goten and Trunks time, or telling Gohan to revive him first in order to bring back Kami and have the Earth Dragon Balls restored, but come on! That was obvious). In my story I want Piccolo to be much more analytical in every situation, as well as having a facility to learn that was given to Goku in the anime. So my Piccolo will be much smarter (hopefully) than T.V.'s Piccolo._

_ Aside from the fact that he's sour with Kakarot because he's the older brother and he's weaker, Raditz does not consider his brother to be a disgrace to the Saiyan race since he still has his tail and never forgets his heritage, so there is less tension between the two, as well as no hate :) yay, brothers!_

_ In here we see Fasha's true colors :o Pan, Pan, Paaaaan! Well I think you actually already had, but in here other characters are beginning to notice how Fasha truly is, including Raditz :o_

_ Keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter, and feel free to review and tell me what you think! ;) thanks for reading!_


	10. Rain

Chapter 10

The day had been wet, cold and windy, and while the rain had receded in the past hour, a slightly drizzle still fell on the Earth, and the floor still had large puddles covering it. Fasha paced back and forth, her hands behind her back while waited for Kakarot and Piccolo to exit the room of Space and Time. Uncertainty gripped her chest tightly and wrapped her stomach into a tight knot as she began to wonder just how effective Kakarot's training had been. What if he had gotten injured? What if he hadn't taken care between their training sessions? What if the room proved to much of a challenge for him? She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes in anger. She never should have let him go. He was just a boy, why had she let him go? Opening her eyes, she gave the old Namek a murderous glare. If something had happened to Kakarot, she would hold him responsible.

"Shouldn't they have come out by now?" Raditz asked, interrupting her thoughts and bringing her back to the situation at hand, and away from her thoughts of vengeance against the old Namek. She hastily pressed a button on her scouter and checked the time displayed on her screen.

"Not for a few more minutes" she answered him. She was not done saying that when the sound of footsteps reached her ears, and she felt herself holding her breath as she turned around and faced the steps that led to the outside of the Lookout, her stomach fluttering mad and her chest pounding like a jackhammer.

His hair might have been the same, but that was the only thing that Fasha recognized from the grown man walking next to Piccolo towards them. His face was relaxed and at ease, but his eyes were brimming with focus. In what seemed like a second he had looked at Raditz, at Kami, at Mr. Popo next to him, and at Fasha herself. He was taller, having gone through his third growth spurt. His once slender and quick body had added some extra weight, his muscles had become larger, bigger and much more defined than she remembered. He was still wearing his orange outfit, although it was torn to shreds. With a groan, he threw down his wristbands, tossed down his ragged shirt and stepped out of his boots, revealing a few new scars. He looked at Piccolo and pointed at his clothing with a smile. Rolling his eyes, the Namek placed his palm on Kakarot's back and a flash of yellow light appeared briefly.

When the flash disappeared, Kakarot was wearing his orange outfit again, complete with his blue undershirt and blue boots, cleaner than the day he had stepped into the room. He spoke a few words with Piccolo before the Namek nodded once and walked away, again into the Lookout.

"Kakarot?" Fasha voiced out loud, unable to fully comprehend the differences that had taken place in a single day. Before Kakarot entered the room he and Fasha had been of the same height, but now he stood a few inches taller than her. Their arms had been of similar girth before, with Kakarot's only slightly thicker, but now the difference was very visible. As he approached her, he was forced to look slightly down at her, just how Bardock had done. If he had been his vivid image before, she did not know what to call him now, because right down to the way his hair moved with the soft gusts of wind, reminded Fasha of her dead comrade. She did not speak for what seemed like a long time, until finally Kakarot smiled at her and the illusion broke. "How did it go?"

"Great" he answered as he placed his scouter back. It had a few scratches, but nothing mayor. He had taken good care of it during the year they had spent in that place. "Check."

Hastily, Fasha pressed the button on her scouter and gasped. When he heard her Raditz mimicked her and he too, gasped in surprise at his baby brother's power level.

3600.

Grinning, Kakarot spread his legs and placed his closed fists next to his hip. He closed his eyes and began drawing his energy, pushing it towards his legs, his chest, his back, his arms, his head, and Fasha's scouter beeped again.

3800.

His hair began to move wildly as he began charging, and after a minute he was gritting his teeth with the effort.

4100.

His white-blue aura began to grow and grow while Fasha and Raditz stared at him, dumbstruck. Pushing himself harder, Kakarot began to groan as his body protested by the sudden increase in energy. His aura turned a darker blue and began to stabilize as his power level reached the peak he was capable of without hurting himself.

4450.

Relaxing, Kakarot smiled at Fasha and Raditz as his power level began to decrease back down to it's usual level. Fasha did not speak until his power level had gone back down to 5.

"Where the hell did you go?"

"That room is great" Kakarot told them as he stretched his arms and shoulders in a circle. "It's hotter and colder than anything I've ever felt, for the first few days we merely did our best to survive in that place. We didn't start training until the second week. And everything is so heavy! You have to use your energy constantly in order to move even the smallest thing, including yourself. There was plenty of food in there! I'm not sure what happened, but whenever I would eat and Piccolo drank water, by the time we returned there would be another meal waiting! It was awesome!"

Kakarot went on and on about the food inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, mentioning only when Fasha pressured him what kind of training he had done inside the chamber. Why great joy Kakarot kept talking to them about the room and what it contained, until Kami coughed behind them, and the three Saiyans turned to face him.

"You made great progress, Goku. In all my years I had never seen somebody's power increase so much after using the chamber. Tell me, how was Piccolo?"

"Oh he was great, Kami!" Goku answered as he walked towards the old Namek, placing a hand on the God's shoulder. "At the beginning he was his usual grumpy self, but after a while he started talking more and our training became even better! Piccolo focused on raising his ki higher and exercising greater control over it. I didn't really get the hang of that meditation thing he did, so I kept working out while he did that. All in all, I loved that room! When can I go back!"

"You can't" Kami answered, and the three Saiyans stared at him in disbelief.

"What?" Fasha asked him, taking a menacing step forward. "What do you mean we can't?"

"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber needs time to prepare for it's next visitors. It need one day for it to be ready. If you try to enter it before, the fabric between our dimension and the chamber's could rip apart, and we would be trapped between them for the rest of our lives, which would be very short since we would quickly die in there."

Fasha pressed her lips together and crossed her arms, furious at the revelation she had been to impatient to hear the day before.

"Fine, then we'll come back tomorrow to use it" she stated, but Kami didn't respond and spoke to Kakarot instead.

"I need to speak with you, Goku..." he told the youngest Saiyan. "Alone" he added over his shoulder as he walked away.

"I guess I'll see you guys later" Goku told the pair, who immediately began to protest. "Look guys, there's nothing you can do here, I'll see you guys back home and I'll tell you everything, and tomorrow you two will go in the room, you'll see! You guys will become so strong!"

With that, Goku patted both his brother and Fasha in the back, who like good Saiyans simply puffed out in anger and flew away.

Following Kami, Goku ran down the white stone steps and turned left to the guardian's chamber, where he sat down on the floor in front of him. Kami had hid eyes closed and was breathing slowly. His room hadn't changed at all, Goku noticed as he quickly eyed it. The same artifacts were placed in precise order, the same pot was behind Kami, spouting small amounts of smoke every few seconds.

"Mr. Popo keeps the Lookout clean and orderly" Kami said, reading his thoughts. "He is a truly valuable friend. Keeping this place running would be nearly impossible without him."

"Yup" Goku answered.

"Tell me Goku. Do you trust them?"

"Who?"

"Your Saiyan companions... Do you trust them?"

"Of course I do, there is nobody I would prefer to jump into battle with. I trust them with my life and they trust me with theirs" Kakarot, Bardock's son, answered without hesitation.

"Would you trust them with this planet's fate?"

"What?" the understandably confused Saiyan asked.

"I have foreseen what will come to this world. Earth has faced danger before, but never like this... I fear your strength will not be enough to protect this world, nor will be mine. What we face is beyond anything I have ever felt."

"Vegeta?"

"Vegeta is the tip of the iceberg, child" Kami told Goku quickly. "It is his master who concerns me... I feel such darkness surrounding him that I can see nothing else. You alone will not be able to stand up to him."

"I told you, I trust Fasha. I even trust Raditz! Haven't you been hearing them? They want to kill Freeza! Raditz doesn't really care about Earth but that doesn't mean that he will destroy or damage it, Fasha and me won't let him if he tried! And he won't. This is our... We've been living here for 17 years!"

"This is your home" Kami finished for him.

"Planet Vegeta is my home" Kakarot rudely countered before realizing that the Namek was right. Sighing, Goku threw himself down on the ground and laid there for a while, thinking. "I won't let anything happen to Earth Kami, and after thinking about it for an entire year, I don't think Fasha will either."

"So we have a Saiyan that will protect this world, one who doesn't care and another one who we are not sure about" Kami jokingly counted. "I think we're luckier than most planets."

"Ha, ha" Goku drily threw back at him.

"I won't let them go in together, however" he finally said, and Goku sat up.

"What do you mean?"

"Goku, it is your presence, your influence that keeps Fasha from consuming herself in anger, I told you as much."

"Yes... Piccolo and I... we... ah... spoke about that" he said, and Kami raised his eyebrow at the unexpected clumsiness the Saiyan expressed.

"I see... At any rate, your influence has tamed Fasha and calmed her heart somewhat, perhaps you can do the same to your brother."

"You want me to enter the room with Raditz?"

"It would be the best choice."

"Gee, I don't know... I mean I loved that room, I became stronger than I have ever been in my entire life! I became strong enough to fight Fasha for a while! But... but it doesn't seem fair, don't you think? I mean I had my chance."

"Then Fasha will go in alone. I will not have the two of them together without any outside influence for so long, who knows where it will end... Raditz cannot stay alone here, not even for a day. That leaves us with only two options... I'm giving you the choice Goku, it makes no difference to me. Either Fasha goes in by herself, or you and Raditz enter the room, it's your choice."

With a nod, Kami dismissed him, and Goku stood up and quickly exited the room, running up the white stone steps. The rain began to return, heavier than it did before, and his orange outfit got soaked before he was even airborne. The cold water and wind hit his face and body as he soared through the air, flying faster than he had flown before in his life and with such ease it surprised even himself. After spending an entire year living with ten times the Earth's gravity, he finally understood how Fasha and Raditz must have felt when they arrived here for the first time.

Kakarot's eyes focused as he began to contemplate his options. No matter what he chose he would leave one angry Saiyan, and that was never pleasant, no matter what their power level was...

What was he supposed to do? Leave Fasha behind, yet again? He couldn't do that, his chest already hurt whenever he thought about the fact that he had gone into the chamber without her. But Raditz was close to boiling point, one slip and he would explode. His hatred for Freeza was large enough already and he had an even shorter fuse than him or Fasha, the slightest thing could send him over the age, last time they had eaten together he had exploded his food because he had choked on a tiny bone.

He had no real choice. Gritting his teeth, Kakarot began playing multiple scenarios on his head about what would happen, none of them were particularly good.

The rain had made a small pool in front of their home, and Kakarot stared at his reflection on it for a long time, both when he descended and when he landed on it, crouching down to stare at his face closer. He removed his scouter and looked into both his eyes, asking himself the same question he knew Fasha asked herself whenever she faced a dilemma, all the while having very little trouble picturing his father's face looking at him.

"What would Bardock do?" he asked himself. "What would you do father? You who fought on until the last second of your live... what would you do?"

"He would do what he thought was right, and he wouldn't back down no matter who opposed him" a feminine, yet powerful voice answered him, and Kakarot cursed his stupidity at not asking himself that question quietly. He looked up and found two bright purple eyes looking directly at him, and he nodded once, wiping the tiny drop of water on his nose with the back of his hand.

_00_

_ Chapter 9 Rain (Samael) On the weather... what? You thought all chapters would have some sort of deep, interesting meaning? Nope :p. No actually this chapter is on how rain changes our perspective, and how the rain that forms the pool in front of the cave makes Kakarot wonder about his dilemma and what will happen in the future._

_ Oh, I got a question for you guys. How far do you want this to go? Cause I was thinking Freeza saga, maybe Cell tops. I don't know, what do you guys want? Should our heroes go as far as Majin Buu? Let me know what you think, thanks for reading!_


	11. Indoctrinated Wrath

Chapter 11

Fasha had reacted just as Kakarot had expected her to. Her sudden increase in power had made the cave shake, and for a moment he thought it was going to collapse. Fasha's bright pink aura exploded outward, and threw both Kakarot and Raditz against the stone walls. She yelled one last time as angrily as Kakarot had ever heard her scream and just as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. The blinding pink light and the powerful energy wave pressing them against the wall retreated back into their powerful owner.

"Go" she said softly.

"What? To the Hyperbolic Time Chamber" Kakarot asked her, unsure of what she meant or how she felt.

"Yes... But you should leave... now."

The words were not out of her mouth when both brothers were running towards the cave's entrance as fast as they could and faster than Kakarot thought possible, Raditz jumped up and flew away from the cave. Kakarot had to push himself hard to keep up with him, the bright blue and white auras leaving a long trail behind them.

"Did you get a reading?" Raditz asked him once they were assumed they were far enough should the angry Saiyan come looking for someway to calm herself down. Kakarot realized that in his intent of catching Raditz, he had been flying faster than his brother could keep up with and he slowed down to let the weaker Saiyan catch up.

"11050" he answered weakly, and Raditz almost fell down from the sky. He shook his head and opened his mouth to ask, but Kakarot answered his unspoken question by nodding.

"Are you sure? Couldn't it-?"

"It's no broken! I'm sure... I can't believe it, she might just be as strong as Vegeta" Kakarot said, almost to himself in the same naive tone he used whenever he spoke about Fasha, and Raditz clenched his teeth in anger.

His punch didn't hurt, but it surprised Kakarot to make him lose his balance and end upside down, looking directly at his Raditz' black eyes as he descended down to be face to face with Kakarot. He was about to punch him back in the stomach when he realized he wanted to say something to him.

"You idiot! She's not! Are you blind? Why do you keep thinking that? Do you honestly believe she's the strongest? She's not, do you hear me? At this rate even Vegeta will kill us all without even sweating! I never should have joined you! I never should have agreed to help you! I should, I should-"

"Run away?" Kakarot finished for him, and Raditz felt prompted to nod and leave. "Have you forgotten what Freeza did to us? He killed our father! Our mother! Our entire race is dead because of him! We can't run away!"

"We might not have a choice, Kakarot!"

"We need to fight, Raditz! I can't let father go away unavenged! He fought until the end!"

"And because he died like a hero we should die too?"

"At least you got to know him!" Kakarot yelled in his face as he straightened up to prevent the blood from piling up in his already red face. Raditz flew a meter back, surprised at his brother's sudden change of subject. "All I have is his face and Fasha's stories! All I got was his face and his legacy! How am I supposed to live up to that?"

"This is what this is all about isn't it? Do you want to kill Freeza because he robbed you of your chance to meet Bardock?"

"I want to kill Freeza because he robbed me of the chance to meet my race! Of the chance to see my home planet! He betrayed us and killed our race! He left us broken! I can't let him get away with that?"

"Why?"

"Why?" the younger Saiyan repeated, shocked at his brother's foolish question.

"What has Freeza done to you? You grew up in this planet all comfortable and away from the serious fights, you grew up here listening to our glorious tales of conquest instead of being mocked by creatures so powerful they could kill you with a single fist! You grew up here, under the care of a warrior that fought with our father! You grew up here and became so strong while I suffered mockery from Freeza, his runts, and even our own race! What has Freeza done to you, Kakarot? Don't tell me about wanting to avenge our race, don't talk to me about regaining our lost honor because you never had it to begin with! You don't know what it's like! You grow up here, isolated from everything and all you know about Freeza are Fasha's stories! Your hate is her hate! Your power is her power! You want to kill Freeza because he hurt Fasha's feelings! The only reason you even know about Freeza is because Fasha told you! Everything you are, and everything you will be is because of Fasha! So if there is anybody that should go in with me to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, it should be her! Not you! You want to be Freeza's executioner? If you took Fasha's power level and multiplied it by a hundred it still wouldn't be enough to kill Freeza! But let me tell you something, little brother" Raditz said, ignoring Kakarot's massive power level and grabbing him roughly by the collar. "If you want me to start considering you a real Saiyan you need to start thinking like one! Stop putting Fasha in a pedestal! She's a Saiyan just like you! Stop feeding off her and start getting strong on your own! Live like a real Saiyan, train like a real Saiyan... or stop calling yourself Kakarot."

And with that his brother flew off, leaving Goku alone, floating in the middle of the endless mountains, thinking hard.

00

The truth was she wasn't angry, not anymore at least. She had been very angry ad surprised when Kakarot had told her she couldn't enter the room. She had felt somewhat betrayed and she wanted nothing more than to beat something to a bloody pulp, but she somehow managed to contain herself and listen to him.

Kakarot was finally finding his leadership skills. The realization brought a smile to her face, which she quickly suppressed, it would not do if they saw her smiling. Fasha sat down on her cave as she thought an interesting thought. She had been living these past 17 years thinking that Kakarot was going to help her defeat Freeza, that together they would kill the tyrant, but after seeing him today she came to a different conclusion.

All these years she had spent training him, all these years she had spent teaching him about Saiyan live and society, they had not been in order to build a partner she could fight with. All these years she had been training a warrior, one that would stand up to Freeza by himself, if need be.

She took a deep, quick breath and froze completely, realizing what she had been doing all these years. She had already known that, but the realization still shocked her. She had been training Kakarot to kill Freeza, and she knew why. The truth was she didn't feel much like a Saiyan anymore. Saiyans didn't sacrifice their own power and didn't slow down their own progress for another Saiyan, or for anybody else. Saiyans did not gave up everything for another. Not even Bardock would have. But the truth was, she wasn't angry about it. When Kakarot and Raditz finally returned, after the sun had gone down and the full moon was dangerously rising in the sky, they found Fasha fast asleep, with a small, peaceful smile on her face.

00

Kakarot watched Raditz with the corner of his eye as best he could. Raditz fell on his knees and almost fell down to the ground, but after a few seconds he managed to stand up and take a few careful steps. Holding back the desire to give him a hand, he walked out the entrance and into the wonderful, horrible, colorless, infinite, boiling, freezing expansion that was the inside of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

He heard his brother's heavy breathing and his scouter's beeping told him Raditz had raised his power level somewhat to keep moving like he had before he entered the room.

"You shouldn't do that" he warned him. "For how long can you keep your power level going? We're going to be here for an entire year, Raditz! I'll be surprised if you can make it to the end of the day like that! I didn't" he added to ensure he didn't hurt his brother's pride too much.

"How the hell did you two last an entire year in here?"

"Control" he answered as he walked back inside and headed to the beds. "You'll get the hang of it. Why don't you get used to the place, go for a jog or something? I didn't get much sleep last night."

"You're going to take a nap? Now? We got one year, Kakarot. If Vegeta or even better Freeza gets here, he'll kill us all, including your beloved Fasha!"

"Unless he gets here tomorrow we'll be fine!" he answered, ignored the very obvious jab his brother had thrown at him. "Besides, I've been doing a lot of thinking, thinking makes me tired."

He thought he heard Raditz snort at his response, but the bed was much too soft to keep paying attention to him.

_00_

_ Fun facts!_

_ Chapter 11 Indoctrinated Wrath (Advent Of Bedlam) on the fact that Kakarot's reasons for killing Freeza are not his own, the hate he feels is not his own, it was indoctrinated by Fasha._

_ I'm going to make the Earth and all other planet's more resistant. I've you noticed, in the anime Nappa, who has a power level of around 4000 makes the Earth shake when he charges his power. Fasha made the Earth shake when she raised her power level to 11,000, so at this point Vegeta is not capable of destroying a planet, not just yet but he will be able to when he reaches Namek (That was one thing I always believed to be bullshit, 18000 isn't enough to blow an entire planet)._

_ Mmmmmm that's it for now, thanks for reading and reviewing!_


	12. The Evil Has Landed

Chapter 12

Raditz' fighting style had not changed. In an entire year of training it had not changed in the least, the same openings, the same weaknesses, the same problems were still present whenever he fought, and Kakarot could beat him without powering up much due to that. But even after an entire year of training, he had refused to listen to Kakarot's advices, saying that his little brother did not know war as he did. Many times Kakarot wondered if the only reason Raditz didn't kill him was because he was stronger. The had spent the entire year fighting and training and arguing about Raditz' and Kakarot's fighting style, until it had become a habit to do so, both of them far too stubborn to admit the other one was right. Raditz continually told Kakarot that his style was not suited for warfare and invasions since he had never fought with a group by his side, while Kakarot told Raditz' that his brutal yet simple style was not good when facing a single opponent. Neither refused to believe that they could be wrong, although they both silently noted that the problems in their fighting styles could be addressed by combining both of them. Kakarot's close range style allowed and even encouraged enemies to get close to him so he could dispatch them one by one, while Raditz' style kept pushing enemies away, allowing others or himself to blast them away or give him some breathing room.

Whenever they fought both styles canceled each other out, and the stubborn Kakarot had too much pride to raise his power level beyond his brother's in order to finish him, and as such their battles dragged for hours, until both were so exhausted they could not move. But even after the many issues they had gone through, Kakarot still smiled as he read his brother's power level on his green scouter.

4100.

"How high is it?" Raditz asked through clenched teeth as he pushed himself harder and harder, his white aura whipping around wildly.

"Much higher than last time!"he answered with a smile. "4100!"

Raditz didn't answer back, instead he spread his legs some more, closed his eyes and tapped on his very last reserves. With one last mighty scream, he reached 100%, and his powerful white aura steadied into small, flowing white waves around his body.

"How high is it now?"

His eyes were wide with surprise as his scouter beeped again and marked Raditz' power level.

5200.

"5200!" he yelled as he lowered himself into the ever-changing ground of the Hyperbolic Time chamber. He felt the heat and cold pass through his feet as he walked towards his slightly taller brother. "I can't believe this! You raised your power level by one thousand in one month! Keep this up and you'll leave me behind!"

"Right" he answered as his power level began to drop again. "Now you go, I'll read you."

He repeated the same process his brother had, but he did it much more smoothly, allowing his body to accommodate the increasing power rising inside of it. Despite the fact that Raditz was reading him, he was also keeping track of his power level, although he wouldn't let him know, Raditz' fuse was short enough as it was.

When he reached 5000 his body started to complain and he hastened the process, hoping to reach his peak soon. His muscles began to burn and his teeth chattered as he built more and more power inside of him. His blue aura kept growing and growing until he was able to see it himself, surrounding him.

"6500" Raditz spat out angrily as he walked away, and despite himself, Kakarot smiled softly. He checked his own reading.

6700.

Laughing, he followed his brother inside the entrance to have one final meal before they left the room.

With an even bigger smile he noticed that Raditz had placed two bowls in the table, there was a first time for everything, he thought.

"Stupid room won't give me more meat" he protested as he set down the large stone container. "There's plenty of rice and other things I don't remember the name, but this is the last of the meat."

They ate the last of the meat in silence, like they usually would, but they finished much faster than usual. They devoured the rice and the bread and were halfway through the fruit when Kakarot finally spoke.

"What's it like, fighting a war? An invasion?"

Instead of the usual sarcastic and short response he usually got, Raditz got somewhat more comfortable on the ground and began a very elaborate and long response.

"It's confusing, chaotic. There's a lot of shooting, crying, screaming, explosions everywhere. It's difficult to keep track of who you are fighting even with the scouter, and if you start fighting one on one you'll get overrun. That doesn't mean you can just breeze past your enemies. You need to find the right balance between the two. You can't also fight like when you're alone, you need to be careful not to hit one of your own, and you have to trust that they will watch your back. That doesn't mean that you can just forget about it, you need to keep an eye on your back always, no matter who else is watching it."

"Is that what you did?"

"No" he answered, and his tail twitched before wrapping itself around his waist again. He bit the apple he was holding on his right hand as he spun the one he was holding on his left hand. "I've fought in two full-scale invasions, both times under Nappa's command. Both times he had me and several other Saiyans provide cover for an infiltration squad. After that we would split into teams of four and proceed to demolish the enemy's fortifications, our work allowed other Saiyans to rush in and capture key individuals to the planet, or quickly kill their commanding officers, but it also allowed others to take credit too."

"You never fought in another invasion?"

"Not in those numbers. After those two invasions I was sent of a few solo missions, and then I was told about Planet Vegeta" he said, and the apple on his left hand was crushed under his clenching fist. "The next time I fought in a group it was with Nappa and Vegeta. All I did was ensure that nobody sneaked on us while they took out the big guns. I only took a few of them out while Nappa and Vegeta had fun."

"And how do you see us beating Freeza? We don't have the numbers to mount an invasion, even if Nappa and Vegeta joined us for some miracle."

Raditz scoffed and bit into his remaining apple, finishing the last of it.

"I don't."

"But you must have some ideas right? After all it'll be like an invasion, just like the time you fought with Nappa and Vegeta, only this time you'll get to kill more" Kakarot said with a smile, and while Raditz smiled back at the thought, it was quickly replaced by grim seriousness.

"That shows how little you know about warfare, Kakarot. Youth I can understand, even forgive, but plain idiocy has no place in a Saiyan's mind. You don't just simply walk into a planet Freeza owns and take over it!" Raditz yelled at him, furious at his little brother for not thinking like a real warrior. He had no doubt Kakarot believed they would get to Planet Freeza Number whatever-it-was, challenge Freeza to a fight, win and take over the planet. "At the very least you'll have to siege it for several days, maybe weeks. You would need warriors to destroy and hold every spaceport and transport system in the planet to ensure supplies don't enter the planet or are distributed where you hit, not to mention you would have to fight Freeza's numerous soldiers and commanders. And they would probably send a distress signal to other planets or even to Freeza himself. And if Freeza was in the planet you can bet Zarbon, Dodoria and Dodoria's soldiers are not far. And after all that" he said, his voice gaining volume as he went. "You have to deal with Freeza himself! That is, if he doesn't decide to simple blow up the entire planet just like he did with Planet Vegeta!"

Kakarot kept munching, doing his best to comprehend the magnitude of the description Raditz had just thrown at him. It was hard for him, so he imagined the time he had fought four of Piccolo's minions and changed the four to fourteen. He then imagined his brother and Fasha next to him, and he tried to picture them fighting other fourteen of them, but the numbers became too big for him to handle, so he changed the mental picture to explosions and energy blasts everywhere while he dodged them.

"And if we attacked a planet Freeza wasn't on? A planet we could attack, destroy and then leave before Freeza was able to reach us, you know, for practice?"

"Now you aren't being completely stupid, little brother" Raditz said in the same condescending tone he took when he remembered Kakarot was eleven years his junior. "That would greatly increase our chances to destroy the planet, but it would also let Freeza know about us."

Raditz finished his fruit and walked into the bedroom, he was asleep by the time Kakarot got into bed.

00

It took her six long hours of hard work, the longest amount of time she had ever concentrated on something that wasn't fighting, but Fasha finally managed to decrypt the transmission sent to Earth from Vegeta's scouter.

"Raditz!" The now 22 year old Saiyan barked into her ear. Amazing how time flew, she thought. "Report as soon as you get this message! Freeza expected Planet Rissh to be ready for sale in three months! Have you managed to get in contact with Kakarot? Damn it! We're heading to Earth, and if I find out you aren't responding for a stupid reason you will regret ever leaving Planet Vegeta!"

Fasha took of her scouter and rested her head back on the seat of her attack ball, looking up at the dark cave ceiling.

"So, your royal highness" she murmured to herself. "Still squirming under Freeza's hand... I wonder..."

00

Time really flew by, Fasha decided as she checked her pod's computer. Kakarot was still soundly asleep next to her, and Raditz was munching away at the last piece of the cow they had gotten for breakfast. Eighteen years in this planet, and their progress had become one she could have never anticipated. She brought up Kakarot's Raditz' and her own readings from the past week.

Kakarot: 7800.

Raditz: 7200.

Fasha: 14000.

She bit her lip as she switched displays and turned on the galaxy map. The two green drops on the black sea were blinking quickly, and she checked their distance to Earth. It would take them a few more days to reach Earth. She opened the Earthling's display and began browsing through it casually.

Krillin: 1800.

Yamcha: 1600.

Tien: 1700 (with the ability to reach 4100 when focusing all his energy in a single move, she added as a side note).

Would it be enough? What was she expecting? She was absolutely certain they would be able to take out Nappa, well at least she could, but what about Vegeta? Raditz had said 17000 wasn't his max power, and that been a year ago! She finished biting her lower lip and proceeded to lick her lips again and again as she thought for the millionth time what would happen. Would they even have to fight? Something told her that she would, Vegeta's pride would not even allow her own strength to exist, he would try to kill her, and maybe even Kakarot, the young Saiyan was progressing far to fast even for her own taste, but she was proud of him nonetheless. Surviving that room not once, but twice... Her gaze drifted towards his sleeping figure, wearing the armor the earthling woman had made for him. It looked Saiyan enough, she decided. It had a blue undershirt and blue pants, with white boots and white gloves. The legs could have used a little more protecting, she noticed as she eyed them, but his chest and arms were solidly protected by the white and yellow armor. The only drawback she could notice with the armor was that it didn't stretch, if Kakarot looked at the full moon or transformed for some reason, it would be destroyed, or it might even hurt him... She began chewing at her lower lip again as she drew the computer again. Kakarot's last transformation had read a power level of 76,000, but he was as savage and uncontrollable as it was expected for a low class warrior. She couldn't blame him for that though, she her, even after all the transformations she had endured, she still had a lot of trouble controlling herself. After years of practice all she had managed to do was to remain conscious of what she was doing, but controlling her actions was another matter entirely. The surges of rage, pain and lust that she felt as she stomped around and killed and destroyed everything in sight was too much for her brain, and she felt powerless, trapped inside that mighty body.

"You look in pain" Raditz said as he placed the last of the bones aside. He always got somewhat chattier whenever his stomach was full.

"Just thinking what I'll say to Vegeta... I don't think he'll even consider joining us to fight Freeza, he's much to interested in his own power and future than ours. Even if he agreed to join us, he would probably just use us to fight Freeza and then either take over and kill him himself or rule us all or something else... I don't like this..."

"Mmm, damn Vegeta is so proud he probably wouldn't even want anybody near his power level... I don't know what he'll do with the rest of us, but he'll probably want to kill you."

"I know... What are you going to do?"

Raditz crossed his arms and leaned back on the stone wall, stretching his new armor. It was similar to Kakarot's, but instead of a full blue bodysuit, it only had a blue shirt and shorts, along with thick boots and gloves, meant to pack a larger punch than Kakarot's. The white and yellow colors, gleamed with the tiny fire in the middle of the cave.

"You think you can take on Vegeta?"

"Yes" she lied, and she held her tail tighter against her waist. Raditz eyed her carefully and his own tail twitched a few times.

"Then I'll take Nappa on by myself. Kakarot can watch on the sidelines and see how real warriors fight" he said with a grin as he closed his eyes. Fasha murmured her agreement and closed her own eyes. She wasn't actually opposed to Kakarot watching the fight, it would keep him somewhat safe from the fight, but she was certain that he would not like it.

With a sigh she walked over to the bag Kakarot had brought with him last night and took out the last armor inside of it. It was similar to hers. Say whatever you would about this Bulma girl, but she had good taste when it came to colors. The bodysuit was a lighter shade of pink than the one she was wearing now, the thin boots were white, the same as the fingerless gloves. Her right knee cap was a dark yellow, the same as her right elbow guard. The chest piece was pink with yellow borders, with a tiny symbol over the left breast.

"Capsule... Corp" she murmured. She turned her gaze to Raditz, and she spotted the same symbol over his chest, just like hers. Flipping the snoring Kakarot over she noticed the same symbol on his chest. "Mmm..." With a long breath she took off her armor and threw it inside her pod. She took off her bodysuit and grabbed the new one, completely oblivious to Raditz' gaze. She turned around when she finished slipping inside it and looked at the younger Saiyan looking at her with intrigued eyes. "What? Never seen a female Saiyan before?"

"No, I didn't spend much time in planet Vegeta if you recall."

"Mmm" she strapped her knee and elbow pads firmly and slipped her hands and feet inside her boots and gloves. "That's true. So you never got a chance to be with a Saiyan, then?"

"No, all the good looking women inconveniently exploded into a million pieces."

"Mmm, well keep your mind on Vegeta and Freeza for now, we can worry about that later" she told him with a grin as she stepped inside her pod and closed the hatch, leaving the surprised Saiyan alone with his younger brother. With a wide grin still covering her face, she closed her eyes and went to sleep, anxious for the moment when Vegeta would arrive.

00

The sun shone brightly down on West city, the pigeons flew from building to building and a slight breeze ran through the city. A woman with three children on a single stroller walked around the park, doing her best to walk, calm them down and send a text message all at the same time, stumbling over rocks along the way. A few children were playing in the swings, and a lonely gentleman was reading the day's newspaper.

Only a tiny glint was visible from the park, but that was enough to make a few people look up at the strange phenomenon. Stars did not shine during the day, and the sun was on the other side, so it was understandable for several people to investigate.

The two space pods raced through the atmosphere, quickly catching fire as they rushed to meet the concrete city. It took less the a minute for them to land, crushing several buildings along the way and setting several tall trees on fire. The impact when they landed was tremendous, building shook, cars turned over, people fell on their knees, babies started screaming and the few curious that managed to stand up, quickly rushed to see what had happened, despite the numerous protests from police officers to stand back and allow the officers to inspect the area.

The two metal pods had created wide craters only a few hundred meters apart, and for a few minutes nothing happened, with the bolder officers starting to walk down the crater. They were halfway there when the pods opened and two figures stepped out of them. Not a minute had passed when the larger one grinned a malicious laugh and lifted two his fingers in a sudden move.

The explosion was massive, the heat was demolishing, the shockwave rippled through the Earth like a earthquake and the smoke rose like a nuclear bomb had been detonated. The smoke was visible from hundreds of miles away, rising like a tiny cloud of doom in the distance. When the smoke began to clear only two figures were left standing. They spoke in low voices before pressing a button on their scouters, and Prince Vegeta and General Nappa took off immediately, flying in the direction of Raditz' power level.

1300.

_00_

_ Fun facts!_

_ Chapter 12: The Evil Has Landed (Testament) no words are needed for this one._

_ So a lot of things happen in this chapter. I felt like I was dragging this too long and I felt like I was watching the anime, where it takes about four episodes for Raditz to begin fighting Goku XD. So between scenes there's a lot of time. Fasha receives Vegeta's transmission when they Raditz and Kakarot are training, and when she checks the computer it's already six months later, where Vegeta and Nappa are already on their way to Earth._

_ Since they never went to Planet Tritek Nappa has significantly more than just six Saibamen :o just how many? Find out next chapter!_

_ The woman with the three children in the stroller appears in numerous dragon ball z scenes (3 I believe)._

_ For the armors I based them on the armors Bulma created for the cell saga, but adapted them to each individual Saiyans' taste. Kakarot's is the standard one that Goku wears when entering the hyperbolic time chamber. Raditz is similar to his own model but with a white and yellow coloring and no shoulder guards, while Fasha is almost as exact replica of her own armor. Just in case I wasn't detailed enough in the story itself :p_

_ When Tien reaches 4000 or something is when he uses the Neo Tri-beam._

_ There is no way in hell I'm putting Chaotzu or whatever the fuck his name is in this story, no matter how many of you ask -.- He fucking sucks._

_ Kakarot's aura is blue, and most of his attacks have a blueish color to them. Fasha's is pink and all her attacks are pink. Vegeta is purple and... you know. Broly is green, even as super Saiyan. Nappa would be the only Saiyan that has a golden aura when he's not a super Saiyan (correct me if I'm wrong there) Raditz' aura is white, and unlike most other Saiyans, his attacks change color, double Sunday is pink I believe, Saturday crush is pink too, Begone! Is white, Weekly special I believe is blueish or something, making him the most diverse colored Saiyan in the anime yay!_

_ Their fighting style is something I noticed while reading the manga and watching the anime, Raditz' fighting moves are based a lot around kicks and elbows and throws, multiple attacks that keep his enemies away from him, allowing him to either rush towards them and pound them or fire energy blasts at a comfortable distance, he might not be very strong, but that fighting style is perfect when fighting multiple enemies, especially in the middle of an invasion or a war._


	13. Killing Is My Business

Chapter 13

"Raditz!" Kakarot yelled to his brother as they flew as closely as possible. "What's your reaction to fear?"

"What?" his brother yelled back, and his fists tightened around him as he eyed Kakarot carefully. "True warriors don't feel fear! Why are you even asking me that?"

"Oh, come on! Fasha told me that every warrior needs to feel fear to be able to conquer it, right? The first and only time I've felt fear was when I fought Piccolo. Our strengths were equal, but he had reinforcements on his side. He spat three eggs and three more demons came out. I had to fight the four of them at the same time, if Krillin, Yamcha and Tien had not arrived in time to help me I would have died for sure."

"Why are you telling me?"

Kakarot kept going, ignoring him.

"I felt my stomach churl around, and how my body tensed to the point that I thought I was going to rip a muscle. I talked to Krillin about that, he says humans have a fight or fly instinct."

"Fight or fly?"

"It means that when they are scared they're bodies get ready to fly or run away, they hearts begin to pump more blood to their legs and arms and their senses sharp significantly, a scared human can run much faster than one that isn't, and they can fight harder and faster, it's something called adrenaline… But since Saiyans don't run away, we must only have a fight instinct right? That's why I'm asking you" he explained as he rose a meter in the air to dodge a flying bird before lowering back and flying next to his brother, how kept eyeing him carefully.

"No." he finally admitted. "The truth is, when we get scared it's something similar to what you say… Last time I got scared… I was fifteen" he lied, but Kakarot allowed him to continue. "I was sent on my first mission alone. The inhabitants weren't particularly powerful, but I was still somewhat nervous. When I got there I pulverized most of them quickly, and soon there was only one continent to take out. When I arrived, one of the fighters in that place had a power level of 600. Mine was of 550. He pounded me hard for a while, until I got so scared I thought about running away. Bardock's reaction was the only thing that stopped me from doing so… Anyway like you said, my heart started beating much faster, I felt a lot of the pain go away and my eyes sharpened, and I focused like I never had before. We fought again and this time I was able to injure him enough that he retreated back into the last fortress. They opened fire on me, but I blew it up with the last of my strength… I almost died that time… it's been the only time I've been scared" he added somewhat firmly. "Satisfied?"

"Very!" Kakarot yelled.

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Cause I'm feeling somewhat scared right now!"

Raditz clenched his teeth and sped up, doing his best to follow Fasha's fading pink trail. He was trying to use his scouter less and less, since both Fasha and Kakarot had pointed out that if it was destroyed he would be much more exposed. His mind returned to his little brother flying next to him. A Saiyan admitting to being frightened, that was a first. But maybe he would see it again when he fought Nappa. A tight wolfish smile spread across his face as he imagined how he would pound that close minded idiot to the ground. Always bossing him around and making him inferior, all the while kissing Vegeta's feet just like he was supposed to, like a good servant. His grin turned into a snarl and he felt another power surge as he blasted off across the endless plains that surrounded Mount Pazou. A few more cows mooed beneath them, and Raditz licked is lips at the thought of another of those succulent animals when the fight was over.

The brothers shot like bullets, leaving a bright blue and white trail behind them as they raced under the morning sun.

00

Vegeta and Nappa had already been detected by her scouter by the time Raditz and Kakarot arrived. She scanned them quickly and felt assured as her scouter displayed their power levels.

1400.

1300.

Raditz nodded and both Fasha and Kakarot quickly got behind the only place that could hide them. Kakarot hid behind a large rock, comfortably resting his back against it, while Fasha leaned against a mountain, giving her just enough view to see Raditz. She suppressed her power level back down to zero, and she soon lost track of Kakarot's power level as well, leaving only Raditz' 1300.

It took about ten minutes, ten minutes in which Raditz did not move, not one inch. His hair swayed somewhat with the caress of the soft wind roaming through the plains, but other than that he did not move. They dropped from the sky like a pair of rocks, with Nappa using his hands to cushion the blow. Show-off, Kakarot thought, this might just be easier after all.

"Raditz!" the shorter one, Vegeta. Snarled at him like an angry father would with an impertinent child. King Vegeta had no doubt done that to him more than once. "There you are! Hiding among the weaklings I see, what the hell is wrong with you? Why haven't you answered? You better have a very good reason to have made us both come here or I swear by everything that is sacred I will rip your arms off and beat you to death with them!"

The formerly Low Class warrior smiled at the pair of Elites, his eyes resting on the taller Saiyan general for a split second more than on Vegeta's.

"I'm not working for Freeza anymore" he declared softly. "Unlike you, Your Majesty, I refuse to be a slave to Freeza's will!"

Vegeta looked like his head had just been dipped in a bucket of ice water, while Nappa's eyes simply opened widely at the blatant lack of disrespect from one of the weakest Saiyans that he had ever fought with.

"What your tone scum" Vegeta warned him in a low icy voice. "I just travelled three months in that cramped pod, the last thing I need is to listen to you whine."

"The only one who will be whining will be you, Vegeta, after I wipe the floor with you!"

"Looks like the trash has gotten full of himself while he was playing around here… I think it's time to teach him a lesson in humility. I'm not even going to bother myself with this scum. Nappa! Have your fun with him, I think the little clown needs a good trashing" Vegeta ordered the older Saiyan, who nodded once, surprised at both the command he was given and at the reason of it.

"All right, you low class scum! I don't know what has gotten into you, but I'm going to pound your head right!"

Without even uncrossing his arms, Raditz smiled even wider and an evil glint crossed his eyes.

"Try it" he said and added the one word he knew would enrage Nappa, the one word that they had cursed him with ever since they had been fighting together, the one word he despised the most, the one word that was the greatest insult one could say to a Saiyan. "… Weakling."

The older Saiyan's reaction was worth everything. It was worth the long trip to Earth, it was worth having to suffer Kakarot and his idiotic questions, it was worth having to train with those disgusting Earthlings, it was worth having to forfeit from killing any human who pissed him off in order to not make Kakarot sad and Fasha upset. The General's eyes widened to the point Raditz thought they were going to pop out of their sockets, his mouth gaped open wide and his fists opened again as his brain struggled to understand what he had just heard.

Him, the mighty General Nappa, second in power to King Vegeta and the third most powerful Saiyan! He had just been called a weakling? By a Low Class runt? His scouter beeped once and he read Raditz' power level. 1600. So the runt had obtained a little boost in power, but what the hell was wrong with him? He knew he could not win… Gritting his teeth, Nappa tried to continue his train of thought, but the rage was too much, the white flashes that covered his eyes wouldn't let him think; the word kept pounding on his head, and his hands curled up into fists so tight his fingers began to dig into his gloves.

"Weakling? Me? Have you gone completely mad? You're the one that's not even worth the trouble! You're the low class runt! You're the weakling!" he yelled as he charged, pulling his fist back to deliver a powerful straight to Raditz' face. He was so fast Raditz didn't even had a chance to move. He threw his punch forward and smacked the weaker Saiyan straight in the face… and missed. He saw Raditz distorted figure blur in front of him before it disappeared, but before he could register anything else, his vision was blocked by the dark soil getting into his eyes and mouth. Before he could recover from Raditz powerful elbow he felt how the weaker Saiyan grabbed his leg and threw him into the air.

Nappa's mind could not process what had just happened. The only thing he realized was that he had been thrown high into the air, and that meant that he was going to be attacked. Instinct kicked in and he adjusted his flight path in midair and regain control, he was about to turn his head down to face Raditz and crush him with all his might when he felt a powerful kick to the side of his head. Again the mighty General went flying through the air and again he tried to regain control, but again Raditz struck him, this time with a punch to the face before he kicked him twice. Once in the stomach, making him lurch forward and another with a powerful stomp, sending him crashing down on the ground. Furious at the strange situation he had found himself in, Nappa roared in anger and twisted in air, landing on his feet and using his hand to cushion the blow again. He was about to fly back up and kick Raditz sorry ass when he felt a powerful kick to his back that sent him crashing against the ground again. Pieces of dirt and rock flew everywhere, and Nappa yelled in pain, or he would have if not for the dirt and dust that was getting into his mouth as Raditz kicked him again and again deeper into ground. The kicks suddenly stopped, and Nappa managed to stand up, breathing heavily.

"What? What! What did you do, you Low Class runt!"

To his surprise it was not Raditz who was next to him but Vegeta, with his back turned to him and his gaze steady on the grinning Raditz. He had a small red mark on his chin were the Saiyan prince had sucker punched him, but his smile was larger than he had ever seen.

"Who's the weakling now!" he said as he laughed again and again, not even paying attention to Vegeta. "I've become stronger without you two! I've become the warrior you could never hope to be! And I'll continue becoming stronger, and we'll kill Freeza!"

"We?" Vegeta repeated, and he quickly rescanned the area, only to get the same results as earlier, the three Saiyans were alone. "I won't tolerate this stupidity, Raditz! I don't know how you gained so much power, but I'll still crush you under my heel like the insect you are!"

At that Raditz stopped laughing and looked at the Saiyan prince, as if noticing him for the first time.

"But before we deal with Freeza, there's the small matter of dealing with his Saiyan pet" he spat out in disgust. "At least your father died like a true Saiyan warrior, Vegeta!"

Furious, The Saiyan prince lurched forward, making sure that he didn't hit Raditz _too _hard, he wanted to kill him slowly after all.

To Vegeta's eternal surprise, Raditz did not only took his punch head on, but responded with a knee to his stomach, making the smaller Saiyan prince lurch forward. Had his defenses been raised he would have not even felt that, but he had lowered to power down to around 6000 to give Raditz a slow and painful death. With a shocked look, Vegeta checked his scouter before he received a powerful kick to the chest, sending him backwards. This one didn't hurt however, it merely surprised him.

7100.

"What? 7000?" the stunned Saiyan Prince yelled in disbelief. "It can't be! How did you gain so much power in such a short amount of time? What did you do?"

"I trained, you fool!" Raditz yelled and he charged much faster than Vegeta anticipated. He dodged his charge this time, but Raditz had had no intention to hit Vegeta. The stunned and weaker Nappa received Raditz' kick straight to the head. Unlike his other attacks, this one wasn't meant to send Nappa flying away. For once, Kakarot's incessant babbling had worked for something. Raditz had pulled his right foot back before contact while he extended his left foot and placed it behind Nappa's head, when he extended his right foot, the pressure sent Nappa's head flying, back, right again Raditz' retreating left foot.

The crunch was sickening, the scream that came for less than a second made Raditz' smile like he never had before.

Nappa stood still for less than a second, and even Vegeta was stunned to see what had happened. The mighty Saiyan general mumbled something incoherently and feel down to the ground. With a smile, Raditz slowly walked away from Vegeta, knowing full well that the Saiyan prince would not attack him and even if he did, he had an ace in the hole.

The kick came sooner than he expected, Vegeta had apparently not even bothered to check on Nappa. It sent him flying forward, but that was deliberate, when Vegeta tried to smack him hard down to the ground he shifted his body and he only hit air. He responded with his own kick, but Vegeta had raised his power level again, and he pounded him back down to the ground. Before he had a chance to recover himself, Raditz felt how Vegeta grabbed his legs and threw him into the air, just like he had, but instead of following him, he sent a large volley of energy blasts his way, and he barely managed to cover his face while the blasts collided against his armor and his body, burning him as he merely withstood the onslaught. Raditz raised his power level as high as he could, and the burning sensation on his body reduced somewhat, but the damage had been done, he could barely move, and he fell down on the ground with a thick thud, groaning loudly. Vegeta must have gone all out to take him out so hard. He managed to open his eye and looked at the reading.

15000.

He barely managed a gasp as he reached into the hidden pocket inside his armor. He hadn't gone all out, not just yet, and he had been beaten so quickly! He clenched his teeth in pain and anger, Fasha had better come through. He barely managed to get the green bean into his mouth and he bit hard into it. It tasted like nothing, but as soon as it went down his throat he felt the burning sensation go away, he felt how his broken bones no longer stopped hurting.

"I told you I would crush you, you weakling! Don't let your new found power think you can stand up to me, or Freeza for that matter!" Vegeta said as he approached him. "Just because you killed Nappa doesn't mean you're anywhere near my level… I'm going to take my time with you, runt."

Raditz checked his power level; the fool had lowered it back down to 4000. He thought he was done for and now he just wanted to have fun with him. Raditz opened his eyes and pretended to be hurt as Vegeta came into his view. He began charging his energy and focused it into his hand, and a small glowing orb appeared.

"I'll kill you" he muttered through his teeth, and Vegeta laughed.

"With that? You're power level went back down to 900! I was stronger when I was a baby!" And the Saiyan prince lifted his right foot. He was about to bring it down when Raditz quickly charged all his energy and threw it directly at his face.

"Begone!" he yelled at the prince's face, and the white orb collided against his stupid hairstyle, sending him back, lurching. Raditz quickly checked his own power level and snickered as he stood up in a second. He threw a kick at Vegeta's direction full powered and raced after him; before the prince had a chance to strike back he concentrated all his energy into his foot and kicked him again. He smiled as he read his power level again just to be sure.

8600.

"Piece of trash!" Vegeta yelled at him as he punched him in the head sending him crashing back into the ground. Despite the fact that the attack hurt, and a lot. Raditz was laughing, and laughing loud. Vegeta looked at him with hate on his eyes.

"I'm stronger than you now, Kakarot!" he yelled towards a large rock away from them, and the youngest Saiyan emerged from behind the rock smiling. "I finally surpassed you!"

The confused prince looked at the newcomer and was stunned to see the same face as the only warrior he had come to respect aside from his father. He was his father without the scars, the same eyes, the same nose, the same mouth, the same spiky hair. Kakarot was Bardock's vivid image. With a gasp he realized what Raditz had meant.

1500.

He knew that wasn't right. Raditz' power level had been only 1600 when he fought Nappa, but he had overwhelmed him. Kakarot must be hiding his true power level. And that's when it hit him.

_"We'll kill Freeza!"_

We… Vegeta froze; could there be more of them? He quickly eyed his surroundings; a large mountain to his right was the only thing that interrupted his view of the immense green plains. In a moment of panic, he threw a powerful energy ball at it, and the entire mountain crumbled under his attack. When the dust settled he turned to look at Kakarot and Raditz, who were eyeing him seriously. He turned around and saw another figure, one more left! He checked his radar before he had a chance to stop himself, it was useless he knew.

3200.

The figure rose in the air and stopped when it was at the same height as him, a wild wind swept the dust away for good, and Vegeta recognized the figure immediately, when she spoke her voice hit him like a brick in the face.

"Hello, your Majesty."

"F...F-Fasha!"

The female Saiyan said nothing, she only grinned at him as large grey clouds slowly made their way towards them, roaring defiantly against the bright Earth sun. A loud thunder roared in the background and the first hint of rain appeared. She let out a small chuckle but kept her arms crossed as her tail swayed from left to right. The rain approached them and the dark grey clouds began laying down their rain on the ground, slowly staining the light green into a darker shade of green. If either Kakarot or Raditz were bothered by the sudden rain they did not show it. The heavy rain kept falling down on them, and it soon crept towards them, covering them both.

Vegeta wasn't particularly worried, he could take on Raditz and Kakarot just fine, even if they fought him at the same time, but Fasha was another different matter. A Saiyan-Tuffle war veteran, and part of Bardock's elite, Fasha was a true warrior, even if he was stronger than her, and he knew he was, she still had flawless technique, and her technique would make her a dangerous opponent.

The rain wet their hair and his usually spiky hair began to fall down on his back, while Fasha's own bop smoothed down and gave her an even more feminine look.

"Are you loyal to Freeza, my prince?" she asked.

"What?"

"Wrong answer, are you loyal to Freeza… Are you aware of what he did?"

"You mean to Planet Vegeta… Yes I know."

"And you work for him still" she asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"There is no safer place than next to the devil" he yelled in order to be heard over the roaring rain. "And when I have Freeza's completely confidence I will kill him and take his place! You'll see!"

"No you won't" she spoke, and before Vegeta could even finish hearing her sentence, she charged, laying a solid elbow to his chest. His defenses had not been lowered, like when Raditz had hit him, Vegeta's power level had been at 13000, and yet Fasha hit him so hard he felt how his mouth strained to prevent from ripping open and he flew away from her, managing to stop only after he flew at least ten meters. Kakarot and Raditz were now watching, completely immersed in the fight from the first punch. With the corner of his eye he looked at Nappa, killed in less than five minutes. He gritted his teeth in anger at the useless weakling before he saw something that almost made his eyes go wide with surprise. Nappa's fist was clenched. It hadn't been before. Was he still alive? He noticed that Raditz had eaten something that had healed him almost instantly. Had it been some medicine? If he could get it, and give it to Nappa, his power level would rise, perhaps enough to fight Raditz or Kakarot while he took care of Fasha. Vegeta's mind raced and a small smile spread across his face as he remembered something very interesting Nappa had.

_00_

_ Fun facts!_

_ Chapter 13 Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! (Megadeth) on Raditz' being back on business after a year and a half of not killing anybody! (That's the full Title, but fanfic wouldn't let me put it :s  
_

_ How did Raditz do? Nice, right? I love Raditz' style of fighting, it's my favorite style in the whole game, just the right amount of speed and strength._

_Well, I promised some Saibamen and I didn't delivered :o sorry about that, but that doesn't mean they might not appear, they just might take their time to do so!_

_I know Krillin, Yamcha and Tien aren't here, but they'll appear in the next chapter, along with the saibamen!_

_ I know you expected more from Nappa, but I don't really like him very much, he's the only pure blooded Saiyan that I never really enjoyed, not even in the games, but I'm not done with him!_

_ I changed the name of the story to DBZ Rise of the Fallen (Soulfly) I thought it was much more appropriate and I wanted to keep up the trend of every chapter having a name after a song, so now the story does too _


	14. All Hell Breaks Loose

Chapter 14

Luckily, Fasha merely watched while Kakarot and Raditz were being pounded back into the dust. With a completely charged punch, he sent Kakarot flying away towards the grey sky and grabbed Raditz from behind. The weaker Saiyan tried to pry himself lose, but Vegeta had a firm grip around his shoulders. Quickly charging his energy, his unleashed a purple explosive wave that made Raditz cry out in pain. He slipped his hand into his armor and managed to find the inner pocket. He barely managed to get a hold of the strange little object inside when he felt a kick to the side of his head, sending him spiraling away from Raditz. Kakarot continued his assault, gaining the upper hand since Vegeta couldn't use his right hand for fear of crushing whatever this thing was. He still managed to land a solid kick on Kakarot's stomach and send him back to his brother, who was clutching his arms chest and back in pain. They quickly exchanged a few words and Vegeta took the time to see what was on his hand. A bean… a tiny green bean.

Not even bothering to see what they were going to do, Vegeta rushed down and landed next to Nappa, whose hand was no longer clenched, he had to be alive. He gently, for a Saiyan, turned him around and was greeted with a tiny grunt.

"Ve-Vegeta?"

"Eat this!" he told him as he placed the bean into his mouth. Nappa, barely understanding, chewed on the small green bean and swallowed. Before Vegeta had a chance to see if it worked, he was forced to deal again with the two Low Class warriors that tried to sneak up on him. The three Saiyans rose into the air as they fought on, with numerous kicks and punches being thrown on both sides, while only a few managed to graze Vegeta, he did manage to land a few solid blows on both Kakarot and Raditz, but the sheer number of attacks being thrown his way was too much to actually deal some serious damage. He was about to be dealt a kick to his face while he punched Raditz's chest when a large figure appeared behind Kakarot and grabbed him with a single hand.

All three Saiyans stopped fighting and turned around to face the newly arrived, and Nappa, with a firm grip on Kakarot's head, threw him towards the ground. The youngest Saiyan barely managed to flip in the air and land on his feet before he crashed into the ground. Nappa then grabbed Raditz from behind and with an evil grin, Vegeta punched twice in the stomach, making him scream out in pain. Nappa then threw him down on the ground, and he landed next to his brother.

"Nice to see that thing worked" Vegeta told him with a grin, and Nappa smiled at him.

"Thanks for that Vegeta, whatever it was. I don't know what happened, but Raditz won't get lucky a second time."

"He didn't get lucky Nappa, he was stronger than you!"

The Saiyan's smile disappeared with Vegeta's words, and the Saiyan prince proceeded to check his power level, a tiny smile spread across his face.

"How is it?"

"5500."

"Nice! I'll pound this scum into the ground, now!"

"No, Nappa!" Vegeta stopped him, and the larger Saiyan stopped in midair. The two looked down at the ground and saw Kakarot splitting a bean in half. He and half and Raditz ate the other half, and soon they were both grinning at them. "You're still not strong enough to kill him."

"I can kill him, Vegeta!"

"Shut up!" he said softly, and Nappa did. "How many Saibamen do you have?"

"I got, crap…. I hope Raditz didn't break it" he muttered as he checked his pocket. "Yes! I got… fifteen left!"

"Good. You had a chance to see this soil first-hand, will they grow here?"

"Perfectly, they'll grow even stronger in this soil."

"The go, I'll deal with them" Vegeta muttered as he began charging his power level. As he expected Raditz charged at Nappa as soon as Nappa headed to the ground, but Vegeta had expected that, he threw a large energy blast at him, and Raditz had to stop in order to not be hit by it. He then turned his attention on the incoming Kakarot. He dodged his kick and grabbed his leg, throwing back down towards his rising brother, who promptly slapped him away. Kakarot turned around in midair and headed up towards Vegeta, who had already kicked and punched Raditz away, he kept this game for a few more minutes while Fasha watched in the sidelines, a neutral look on her face. He didn't want to hurt them _too_ seriously, not just yet, he was worried Fasha would intervene if he did, and the three of them would be a bit too much for him. Besides, he might be forced to reveal his true power to them, and he didn't want to do that just yet.

"Vegeta!" Nappa yelled, and Vegeta pushed Kakarot and Raditz away with an air blast before looking down. Fifteen green creatures with large heads and razor sharp claws were standing around Nappa, each with a malicious grin in their face. "They're even stronger than I expected!"

Vegeta quickly scanned their power levels and smiled.

1700 each of them, and 1900 the largest one, almost as tall as Vegeta himself.

He landed next to them, and they quickly surrounded him as they awaited his orders, grinning maliciously.

"All right, you six!" he yelled and carefully pointed at each of them. "You're going to deal with Kakarot! He's the one with short hair. You!" he told the largest one of them. "You're going to help Nappa fight Raditz. You two, stand by and wait for Nappa to call you if he needs you. You six!" he told the last of the Saibamen. "You're going to split into groups of three and wait for openings! When you see one in either fight you charge! If Fasha intervenes then hold her off!"

Vegeta turned around and looked at the three Saiyans, visibly nervous at the unexpected turn of events and smiled. He was about to order them to charge when three figures dropped from the grey sky and landed behind the Saiyans. His scouter quickly checked their power levels as they landed.

1900, the short bald one.

1750, the tall one with long hair.

1800, the tall bald one.

A fourth figure landed behind them, wearing a dark purple outfit.

5900.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at them, fighters so strong on this planet? How was it possible? There was a reason why Kakarot had been sent here, this planet's inhabitants were weak, incredibly weak. He quickly formulated a new plan in his mind, they didn't have enough Saibamen to spare, but the numbers were high enough to give them some breathing room.

"Are those the Saiyans? They're much stronger than I expected, and what the hell are those things?" the one with long hair said as he eyed the Saibamen with understandable disgust.

"Nappa, new plan! Take five Saibamen and deal with them, watch the Namek! Leave the rest with me; I'll kill these traitors myself."

"You're mine, scum!" Nappa yelled as he charged, five green creatures flying after him. The four fighters got into their stances and charged right at them. The Namek went straight for Nappa, while the other three fought the five Saibamen, it proved to be an even match for the time, and Vegeta turned his attention to the remaining three Saiyans. Fasha had descended and joined the three of them, eyeing Vegeta with disgust.

"Time to take out the trash" he said to himself. "You six! Deal with Raditz, you four! Take Kakarot! Fasha is mine!"

And with that he charged, and the ten green creatures soon began fighting the lower class warriors. Kakarot had little trouble against one of them, even dealing significant blows to them, but they were so many that they overwhelmed him, and he slowly began to give ground to them. Raditz was another matter, there were only four of them against him, and he was holding off better than Kakarot. As he flew past him, Vegeta kicked Raditz' head and gave the Saibamen an opening, which they exploited by slashing at his arms and legs, making the Saiyan fall back into the defense. Vegeta charged at Fasha and using all his power he gave her a powerful fist in the stomach, but Fasha, like he had expected was simply too good a fighter to fall for that. She dodged his heel kick and landed a solid elbow on his back. She followed up with a quick kick to his side, but he had expected something like that, and Vegeta threw an energy blast at her, forcing her back.

Taking the offensive again, he threw a series of punches and kicks at her, slowly building up his power as he did. She matched him blow for blow, kick for kick and neither of them gave up ground. Despite his annoyance at them, despite his wounded pride, he felt a pang of respect for her, and he quickly remembered she had been part of Bardock's squad. He would have to fight seriously if he was going to kill her. Despite her monumental power, Fasha soon found herself overwhelmed by the Saiyan prince, and she slowly, very slowly began to give ground. Her counterattacks lost some of their strength, her blows came later, and Vegeta knew he had the fight won. He pushed even harder, and with one might blow, he sent the powerful warrior to the ground. Fasha crashed with tremendous force, and the Earth shook with the strength of her crash.

Gathering his energy, Vegeta curled his fingers and placed both hands together at chest level, facing down at the crater. Fasha would not escape him. His hands began to glow purple as he charged his energy, and his aura grew around him. As the dust cleared he saw Fasha standing in the crater her impact had created, clearly unharmed. His scouter beeped and Vegeta gritted his teeth in anger. She would not surpass him; she was not stronger than him. He was the prince of all Saiyans and those that did not follow him would perish.

16000.

Her arms glowed pink as she charged her own energy, but it would not be enough, Vegeta knew, he would crush her. Fasha too found herself in pain as she raised her energy higher and higher, and both their scouters beeped loudly. The sounds of fighting began to die down and Vegeta noticed with a corner of his eye that nobody was fighting anymore, only looking at them.

Giving his attack one last surge, Vegeta aimed at Fasha and threw his attack.

""GALICK!"

"DIE!"

"GUN!"

00

Kakarot did his best to hold against the numerous Saibamen Vegeta had thrown at him, and despite the fact that they weren't very strong, there were too many of them, and he began to feel the pressure of having six enemies on him. He slowly began to realize that his fighting style proved to be a disadvantage here, since he could not hit any of those infernal creatures properly. A particularly powerful punch sent his head forward into a Saibaman's foot, and the rough claws scratched his head as he pulled back. Overwhelmed, Kakarot charged his energy and raised his Ki as high as it would go, pushing the Saibamen back. With what little breathing room he had gained, he charged against a single one of them and punched with all his might, ripping its head off cleanly. If the five other creatures noticed he did not know, for they were on him in an instant, two of them grabbed him and locked their arms together around him, trapping his arms and legs around him. Fasha had told him about this move, she had told him how deadly it was, she had warned him numerous times about it, and he had fallen for it. With an angry scream, Kakarot raised his own Ki and managed to create some sort of barrier before the glowing creatures exploded. They laughed with that disgusting voice of their, and with one last chuckle, the creatures exploded, engulfing him in what had to be the most powerful attack he had ever taken in his life.

00

Piccolo could hardly hold his ground against the mighty Saiyan. He had felt his power and he had realized that his own was slightly larger, but the powerful Saiyan had created a mighty golden aura around him, and he was now slowly overwhelming him with the sheer strength of his attacks. A single of his punches was enough to send Piccolo flying and the few times he had tried to block them the effort had left him exhausted. When Nappa charged again, his sidestepped him and gave him a powerful knee to the side, which gave him enough time to see what was happening on the rest of the battlefield. Yamcha had been killed by one of the Saibamen, he already knew that, but he had not paid enough attention to the fight. Tien and Krillin were fighting the last two Saibamen, but they were exhausted, they would not be able to defeat them. Piccolo rushed forward and grabbed the weaker creature, giving Krillin enough time to punch the Saibamen in the stomach. Without even listening to the human's thanks, Piccolo rushed back and met Nappa's blow with his own punch, but the energy the Saiyan was expelling was too much for him, and he was sent back. Nappa continued his assault, slowly making Piccolo more and more tired. Soon the Namek was too tired to continue dodging his attacks, and he was forced to block them, which quickly left him exhausted.

"Dodon Ray!"

The beam hit Nappa straight in his back, making him drop Piccolo and wince in pain.

"You scum!"

Leaving the weakened Piccolo behind, Nappa charged at Tien and Krillin, and quickly overwhelmed them. The smaller human probably did not even feel a thing as Nappa's punch broke his neck and made him drop to the ground like a stone. Tien was not so lucky, and the Saiyan's punch was strong enough to sever his arm clean. He screamed like a maniac before the Saiyan punched him again and he fell down on the ground, dead.

00

Kakarot stood up and kicked one of the Saibamen away from him. The two others rushed towards him, but he grabbed each of them by their large heads and with a furious scream, hit them together, cracking them open. He stomped each of them in order to make sure they were dead and punched the last one in the chest, ripping right through his chest, making the disgusting creature squirm in pain before throwing him down on the ground. With his scouter he quickly checked the battlefield. Piccolo was losing, slowly, but he was still losing. Yamcha had been killed by one of those creatures, and Krillin and Tien had just finished their enemies. He saw Tien charging his attack and aimed it at the large Saiyan, and before he could stop him, he fired.

"Dodon Ray!"

Goku charged at him, hoping to be fast enough to stop Nappa, but the larger Saiyan was much too close. Goku watched in horror as Nappa's punch twisted his friend's head at an unnatural angle, and his eyes went wide with shock. He was only a few more seconds away from him, but he still could not reach him in time. Nappa's swipe ripped Tien's arm right off, and he too, went down.

Goku screamed in anger at the surprised Saiyan, whose eyes widened at the sight of the furious Goku, with a look of murder on his eyes.

The punch he gave Nappa was powerful enough to rip through the toughest steel, and the large Saiyan went flying through the air. Kakarot was not quick to forgive, and he flew right after him. With screams of pure rage, he kicked the Saiyan down into the ground and proceeded to punch him again and again. His erratic punches and wild elbows did not do as much damage as they could have had he been focused, but it did not matter, Goku's power was much too high for Nappa's body to handle, and with each blow the General got closer to death. Gathering all his energy on his right fist, Goku lifted it as high as it would go.

The bright blue fist came crashing down, cutting through the air like a blade, and hit Nappa's head like a brick. The Saiyan's head exploded like a balloon, and Kakarot was soon covered in his blood. Recovering from his bloodlust, Goku stood up and ran towards his friends, but both his scouter and his senses told him what had happened. They were both dead.

With tears in his eyes Goku shook them again and again, he pleaded for them to respond, but the three humans were dead. He lost all track of the fight, he did not hear anything, he did not see anything, he could only visualize his three dead friends in front of him. His ears might have picked up his brother's screams for help, but his brain did not process them. It was not until Raditz was sent crashing against him that he realized that the fight was still going on. He rushed towards his brother to see if he was fine, and he was met only with Raditz' irritated sneer, which calmed him down. The last of the Saibamen had self-destructed in an attempt to kill Raditz, but his brother was too strong, and he had survived the attack only slightly hurt.

"I'm fine! Look!"

Kakarot turned his head and saw Vegeta in the air, charging a very powerful attack, aimed at a large cloud of dust. His scouter told him that Fasha was there.

15000.

16000.

17000.

18000.

19000.

His scouter beeped and he checked Fasha's power level.

16000.

It wasn't enough. Her power level increased somewhat, but Vegeta's was still greater. He knew he should go help her, but something kept him rooted to the ground. Raditz sat up on the ground and watched. To their left, Piccolo stood still, watching the powerful display of power. As Vegeta let out one last scream of rage, the Earth began to softly shake, and Kakarot almost lost his balance. The dust cleared with one powerful gust, and he saw Fasha in the middle of the crater, unharmed and charging her own attack. It wouldn't be enough. Still nobody moved.

"GALICK!"

Vegeta pulled his arms back and aimed his attack right at Fasha. She threw her arms forward and fired her own pink blast.

"DIE!"

"GUN!"

The sky light up when purple and pink collided, blinding Kakarot, Piccolo and Raditz. Their scouters beeped like mad, displaying the massive power levels, and the ground shook like an earthquake. The bright energy blasts pushed against each other, neither of them giving room, until Fasha's thinner energy blast started to give room to Vegeta's powerful purple attack.

"We have to help her!" Kakarot told his brother as his legs finally obeyed him.

"No look!" Raditz said as he stood up, and Kakarot's eyes returned to the energy clash in front of them. Fasha's attack was giving even more ground, but it was because she was focusing her energy into a thinner beam, and it soon began to push right through the middle of Vegeta's attack.

It happened in an instant, the energy collision suddenly disappeared, and both Saiyans fell down to the ground, exhausted from the fight. For the next minute nobody spoke, nobody moved, they only watched the battlefield, as both Saiyans struggled to get up.

While Vegeta's blast had hit Fasha head on, her own beam had pierced his attack, and it had hit the Saiyan prince right in the heart.

The minute was up, and still nobody moved, much too surprised and shocked to do anything other than watch.

00

Fasha turned over and opened her eyes, feeling how her body protested against the movement. She got somewhat more comfortable in the position she was in, and looked up at the grey sky. The last remnants of rain fell on her face, cooling her face and giving her a few drops of the precious liquid to drink. She was parched and hungry as well. Her scouter didn't indicate any power levels in front of her, and she was too tired to move her head and scan the immediate area. She heard a few sounds she did not recognize very well, but she didn't bother very much, she had hit Vegeta straight in the chest, the damage was done. Even Kakarot and Raditz would be able to finish him off now. Or at least she hoped. Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a bright energy ball to her left. She managed to move her head somewhat, and what she saw horrified her.

"NO!" she screamed as loud as she could. The energy ball rose into the air quickly, before it exploded with a large blast. The large white energy ball floated in the sky, and she heard Vegeta's laugh. "Kakarot, Raditz! RUN!"

_00_

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 14 All Hell Breaks Loose (Misfits) on what happens at the end of the chapter, do you recognize it? :o Shit's about to get serious._

_ Nappa's power level when he uses his lighting aura is around 6000, but he is much stronger, that's why Piccolo has such a hard time fighting him despite the fact that their power levels are almost equal.  
_

_ They're fighting in the plains where Raditz first takes Gohan in the anime/manga, so you can get a better idea of where they are._

_ Almost 900 readers in one month! Thank you! I don't think I've had this many readers since I wrote Aspyre to More! Thanks a lot for your review and for reading! Enjoy!_


	15. Operation Annihiliation

Chapter 15

For a long time the only sound on the battlefield was the sound of the rain falling down softly on the ground, covering the five remaining fighters. And then Vegeta exploded.

"INJURED! I'VE BEEN INJURED BY THIS LOW CLASS SCUM!" Kakarot, Raditz and Piccolo all heard him, and they expected him to blast out of the crater he was in and attack either Fasha or themselves in a murderous rage, but he did neither.

"Is she alive?" Piccolo asked the Saiyans as he limped towards them. Both of them nodded, too frightened to even speak.

"I'LL NOT STAND FOR THIS! I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS! I AM AN ELITE SAIYAN WARRIOR! I AM THE STRONGEST OF MY RACE! I WIL NOT LET THIS STAND!"

The three of them looked to the left. About fifty meters from where they stood, the Saiyan prince had fallen, where a large energy ball was forming. Suddenly the ball rose into the air, and their scouters all beeped like mad, reading the ball's energy.

"What is that?" Kakarot asked, eyeing the huge energy ball before it exploded like a sun.

"NO! KAKAROT, RADITZ! RUN!" Fasha screamed, but it was too late, all four Saiyans had already looked at the explosion above in the sky.

The innocent white ball illuminated the dull battlefield like a tiny sun, all the details became visible, Piccolo could see the bodies of the fallen warriors, the dead body of the gigantic Saiyan, and the mangled bodies of the numerous Saibamen, he was able to see the Saiyans next to him, who stared at the huge white ball like it was the most magnificent thing they had ever seen. Curious as to what it was, but wary that he was dealing with power much higher than his own, Piccolo rose in the sky and retreated farther away from the four of them. Something told him that this was dangerous, a warrior such as Vegeta would not have wasted so much energy on that innocent looking ball.

He quickly looked at Fasha still thrown in the crater, he looked at Vegeta, laying on top of the green grass, he quickly eyed Goku and Raditz and he noticed something strange, they all had the same empty look in their face, with their mouths slightly open and their irises fixed on the white ball in the sky. For a moment Piccolo considered retreating even further, but the sounds coming from the Saiyans stopped him. A tiny moan escaped Kakarot's lips, another left his brother's mouth. Fasha murmured something intangible, and Vegeta simply laughed.

"What is that thing?" Piccolo asked, at nobody in particularly.

"Prepare to die! Every last one of you!" the prince yelled, and Piccolo found himself believing him.

What happened next astonished Piccolo. The Saiyans remained frozen for a few more seconds, before a look of pure rage covered their faces. The four aliens snarled in anger. Their fists clenched. Kakarot was the first to transform, dark brown fur began to spread towards his arms, legs and face. His brother, next to him began to grow in size, snarling and screaming in anger. Fasha began to grow as well, and she managed to scream a few words of hate that had no relation between them. The dark fur spread to their face and their mouths began to stretch larger and larger. Large fangs grew from their previously normal mouths and their bodies grew to such size that their armours exploded with great force, and their underclothes ripped to shreds. Huge screams filled his ears and he pulled back in pain and surprise as the four monsters grew and grew ever larger. The four creatures roared and pounded at the ground with their monstrous fists and feet in anger, and Piccolo watched in horror as the four Saiyans finished their transformation.

With his eyes as large as they would go, Piccolo watched as the four Saiyans laid in the ground, transformed into Great Apes. Of the four of them, he could only recognize Raditz and Vegeta. The first one due to his long hair that had grown as long as he had. The second one because of his armour that had expanded to fit his size. The four beasts stood up and roared in rage, and Piccolo swore that the air itself shook with their power. Fasha, Raditz and Kakarot started pounding at the ground and roaring in anger, stomping around in fury, punching the air and ground, stomping in a blind rage. Only Vegeta stood in the sidelines, chuckling softly in his huge form.

Pulling back, Piccolo eyed the situation carefully, and he watched how Raditz punched another Ape that had wandered much too close to his stomping ground and kept stomping around without stopping. The other ape did not even notice the attack and kept stomping and roaring. He, or she, pulled the only tree around in the area and threw it at Vegeta, who simply shrugged off the attack. Piccolo watched how Raditz charged an energy beam on his mouth and fired it at the ground. A huge explosion rocked the ground and almost threw Piccolo off balance. Vegeta laughed loudly and watched the three Saiyans stomping around in blind fury.

The only clothed Saiyan rose in the air and began charging another attack, and Piccolo flew back a few more meters back, until he judged that he would be safe from the blast.

The Saiyan Prince charged another bright purple ball on his hand.

"I can't believe this" Piccolo muttered to himself as he watched the Saiyans.

Vegeta took aim to the nearest Saiyan, either Goku or Fasha and fired. The purple ball hit the Ape in the back and sent him crashing down on the ground, screaming and roaring in pain as it tried to clutch it's back. The creature turned on it's back and roared at it's assailant, and it fired a powerful beam at him, but Vegeta merely sidestepped the beam. He threw another at the Ape, and it hit it in the chest, making the creature roar in pain again. Raditz turned to look at the fallen Saiyan and looked at Vegeta, and his primitive and small brain understood he was attacking them. He threw a blast at him again and again, but every time he fired the Saiyan prince merely moved from side to side, laughing at him.

The ape on the ground jumped up and pulled at Vegeta's large tail, pulling him down. Vegeta screamed in anger and pain as his tail was pulled, and Piccolo remembered when Goku had transformation during one of their fights, and pulling on his tail had been the only way to calm him down somewhat.

Vegeta flew down and punched the ape in the head, sending it crashing down back into the ground. Raditz charged at the Saiyan Prince and landed a solid hit on his face, but the Prince hit him back and sent the weaker Ape roaring in anger. And Piccolo watched, entranced at the monstrous power the Saiyans had.

That's when he came to the realization that this world would never be his, as long as the Saiyans existed they would be one step ahead of him. Already Goku had surpassed his own power, and he keep going. He found it harder and harder to keep up with the Saiyan, for even while performing the same training, Goku grew stronger than he did, he had to push himself even harder than him only to keep up, and still the Saiyan outdid him. Chuckling, Piccolo flew higher into the air and did the one thing he could do. He might not be able to kill Vegeta or even harm him, but he could even the battlefield for the Saiyans.

00

Fasha could see, but that was all she could do. She saw how she stood up and began pounding on the ground and stomping around. She fired a few energy blasts at the ground and she saw how she marched away from Kakarot and Raditz, who at this point had started to notice Vegeta, who was toying with them, furious, Fasha kept stomping around and fighting the air. She felt the frustration and anger rising, and her brain was soon overwhelmed by the huge amount of emotions she was feeling. White flashes of rage mixed with fits of sorrow as she kept rampaging around.

She mentally gritted her teeth as she told her arms to follow her instructions, as she ordered her legs to turn around and fight Vegeta, she ordered her fists to stop punching the air and punch Vegeta instead, but nothing worked. She kept stomping around, and her anger rose and rose as she felt impotent at the situation. How could this happen? How had she not have foreseen it? Her anger rose even more as she blamed herself for the situation, but all rage changed into sorrow and concern as she watched how Vegeta shot Kakarot again and again. She watched how Raditz shot at Vegeta again and again, only for the Saiyan prince to mock the transformed Saiyan.

Her anger rose again and she tried to control herself, to no avail.

00

Vegeta laughed at the uncontrollable Apes, feebly trying to hit him. He kept the game for a few minutes, until he got bored of Raditz' continuous blasts and Kakarot trying to pull him down to hit him. There was much too difference between their power levels after all, they wouldn't hurt him. He landed on the ground and rushed forward hitting Raditz on his stomach and punching him away. He stomped twice on Kakarot's chest, making sure he broke his robs to prevent him from getting up.

Out of sheer curiosity, he looked at Fasha, who had stopped stomping around and was instead looking at him, standing perfectly still. Worried at what she might do, Vegeta kicked Kakarot away and blasted Raditz hard, the two of them fell down on the ground, groaning softly as he approached Fasha.

"Time to finish you, my sweet. You kept me entertained for a while, but I grow weary of you!"

He punched her in the face and in the stomach, alternating his attacks to prevent from attacking him back. The mindless Saiyan roared in anger and tried to hit him, but her wild and uncontrolled attacks either missed him or did not do as much damage as they could and he soon overwhelmed the savage beast.

With a particularly powerful blow he made her kneel in pain and he followed it with a massive punch to the head, and the beast fell down to the ground, incapable of maintaining even her balance.

He grabbed her leg and threw her next to Raditz and Kakarot, and he rose into the air. With a huge grin on his face, or as he could best grin in his current form, Vegeta curled up his fingers and placed his gigantic hands at chest level, and a few seconds later a large purple glow began to cover his hands. He would kill the three of them in one blow.

00

Piccolo continued charging his energy, placing everything in one blow. He would not fail. If he didn't get the three of them back in fighting shape, Vegeta would kill them all and he would destroy the entire planet. And Piccolo had no intention of dying just yet.

He smiled as he recalled what Fasha had told him during the year he had spent training with them.

00

_"So what's a Namek doing so far away from home?" she had asked as she finished her meal._

_ "What? What are you talking about?"_

_ "You, you're a little far from Namek aren't you? I only met your people once, you seemed like peaceful folk, so forgive me if I find a Namekian warrior interesting."_

_ "Namek? What are you talking about? I'm a demon."_

_ "Demon? You might be ugly as hell, but you are no demon... You truly don't know?"_

_ "My patience wears thin, Saiyan. What are you talking about?"_

_ "Oh my, you don't know? Where you born here?"_

_ "Yes, my father was the great Demon King Piccolo and I one day shall rule this world as he wished."_

_ "No" she said with a grin that grew with each word. "No he wasn't."_

_ "I have his memories, I know what I am."_

_ "Poor boy. You are no demon. You're a Namek, I would recognize those antennas anywhere. You're race is a dying one, just like mine. You lay eggs, you have no sexes and you don't need to eat, you only drink water. Did I got everything or did I miss something?"_

_ "What? I... What? How do you know all this? Son Goku told you!"_

_ "Kakarot" she said, placing a heavy emphasis on his name. "Told me nothing. Your people interested me, so I looked them up on Freeza's database. You can read what I have on you if you wish." _

_ "You... You have information about me? About... Namek?" he asked, even at the time, even though he had denied it, the word had sounded so familiar to him, like he had had it on the tip of his tongue all his life, yet never able to say it. The longing he felt, the desire to live in those open plains, he knew something was strange, but he had assumed his father had not assimilated him correctly when he expelled him._

_ "I can get it" she said with a now even face. "It'll be difficult to access Freeza's database without him finding out, but I can do it. Bardock used to joke that I was very intelligent, that I should have become a scientist instead of a fighter."_

00

And she had come through for him. She had given him the data about Namek, even pictures of the planet had been included on the strange gadget she had given him. He had recognized it immediately, and speaking with Kami had confirmed what both of them already knew. They were Namekians, and they would have never known had it not been for Fasha, and for that Piccolo felt like he owed her. And he would pay her back.

Taking careful aim, Piccolo aimed his two fingers and pointed them directly at his target. With the corner of his eye he saw Vegeta pounding Fasha to the ground and smiled. He wouldn't have the upper hand for long. Vegeta rose in the air and aimed at the three downed Saiyans. He began charging another of his attacks, another Galick Gun, Piccolo remembered and stored it on the file he had created on Vegeta.

Piccolo smiled as he imagined the Prince's reaction, he would not expect his attack. He gave his attack one last surge of power.

"Special Beam Cannon!" he yelled as the bright orange beam left his fingers, surrounded by that yellowish aura and flew towards the bright white ball in the sky. Vegeta saw him, but it was too late.

"NO!" the prince screamed as he threw his Galick Gun, not at the three Saiyans, but at Piccolo himself. With an mischievous grin on his face, Piccolo watched how his attack hit the white ball and exploded, destroying the fake moon the Saiyan had created.

He didn't see it, but the bright purple flash that engulfed him told him that Vegeta's Galick Gun had hit him square. He was thrown from the air and into the ground as the power energy surrounded him and began to eat him away.

"Namek" he whispered before he crashed against the ground.

00

Fasha no longer felt like a prisoner inside her own body, while she still felt battered and bruised, she managed to stand up and see Vegeta high in the air. The bright energy ball he had created was gone. She held her right shoulder in pain, it was dislocated. With a grunt she pushed hard against it, and the painful sharp shock she received told her it was fine again.

She quickly checked the rest of her body, she felt better than she did before, she always felt somewhat refreshed after she transformed back, although this had been the shortest transformation she had ever endured. And she had even made some progress near the end.

She looked around the battlefield and saw why the white energy ball was no more. Piccolo's destroyed body laid in the middle of the grassy plains, his purple outfit was the only way Fasha was able to recognize him, he was that battered and mangled, she could not even see his head.

She felt a pang of sympathy for the Namek, he had been very smart, he had no doubt deduced that the energy ball was the key to the transformation and had sought to destroy it to give them a fighting chance. With a nod of respect she turned and face Vegeta, who looked royally pissed at both her and Piccolo. She heard Kakarot groaning behind her and Raditz standing up, having taken somewhat less of a beating. His clothing was mostly ripped, the only thing that had survived, conveniently, were his shorts, which gave Fasha a smile.

She faced her prince with a grim look as she charged her energy for one last blast. She would kill him with this. She was mangled and hurt, but she had enough energy to kill Vegeta, she knew it.

Raditz stood next to her, charging his own blast. It wouldn't do much, but any help would do.

"Fine!" Vegeta yelled. "The two low class pieces of trash want to play. I'll take you both on! You'll have the honour of dying by my hand!"

But he didn't fool Fasha's keen eye, she saw the way he moved, the way he charged his energy blast, he was hurt, he was tired.

She wouldn't let the Namek down, she wouldn't let anybody stand on her way. For the sake of the planet she had spent her last 18 years on, for the sake of her revenge, and for Kakarot's sake, she would finish this now.

Her hands were covered in a pink aura as she charged her blast. She placed her hands next to her hip, one on each side as she charged her energy. Raditz held up his only good hand, his right and a bright pink ball was glowing on top of it. Vegeta was charging another Galick Gun, the royal blast, the royal move. Arrogant until the very end, Fasha noted.

From the corner of her eye she saw Kakarot struggling to get up, only to fall back down on the ground, exhausted from the longest and most dangerous fight he had ever had. It was good that he had fought Vegeta, he had felt the power of an elite first hand. Maybe now he would know what it was to fight enemies so strong.

Her scouter, which miraculously had not fallen from her face, beeped, and she quickly checked Vegeta's level, returning her attention to the fight.

11000.

With a grin, Fasha sent one last energy surge to her hands. Vegeta might have caused her more damage than she had to him, but she had not wasted as much energy as he had, and now she had him.

"Time to die, your highness!"

"I won't die here, I'll crush everyone of you! Every last of you traitors, every pathetic creature on this planet! I will kill you all!"

"Shut up, Vegeta!" Raditz yelled, and he fired his blast. "Saturday Crush!"

As soon as Raditz let loose his attack, Fasha fired, and her own pink blast engulfed the large energy ball, protecting it from Vegeta's blast. Vegeta fired his Galick Gun, and for a moment it seemed that it destroyed their attacks, but somehow they held their ground. Her arms and legs were burning, and her head was pounding hard, but Fasha kept pushing, sending all the energy she had left to her hands, but it wasn't enough, her attack wasn't gaining much ground, if anything the fight was even. Raditz began charging another attack, but he was much too weakened, it would do much good.

"KA!"

She recognized the attack immediately, and an even bigger smile covered her face.

"ME!"

Behind her, a bright blue glow lit up the sky.

"HA!"

her scouter beeped like mad, but the clash in front of her demanded her full attention.

"ME!"

Vegeta looked desperate, pushing with all his might against Fasha's blast, but Raditz' energy ball cut through, and managed to hit the Saiyan prince. Still Fasha made little progress, her beam pushed forward half a meter, only to be pushed back by the enraged prince.

"I WILL NOT DIE HERE! I AM THE PRINCE OF ALL SAIYANS!"

"And yet you underestimated us, your highness! You underestimated your race's own strength!"

"HA!"

The blue energy beam flew fast, it flew straight, and it hit true.

00

He grabbed Piccolo's pants, the only thing that wasn't completely ripped to shreds and placed them on, tying them around his waist with his white belt as best as his broken ribs allowed him. He moved extremely carefully, he didn't want one of those broken pieces of bone ripping through his skin or one of his organs.

"Thanks for that, Piccolo" he murmured to the dead Namek. "You really came through for us, uh?"

Goku slowly walked from the fallen Namek and past his dead friends. Saiyans do not cry, Kakarot remembered. They honour their dead by becoming stronger, they honour their dead by fighting hard, they honour their dead by killing however had taken their lives. He would honour the dead.

"The Namek was really smart" Raditz said as he sat down on the ground, looking at his little brother, who smiled a weak smile. "You didn't do so bad, for your first real battle."

"I've had fights before, Raditz."

"Please Kakarot, against these weaklings? No baby brother, this is your first real fight... And you did good."

Kakarot smiled at his brother, but Goku wanted nothing more than to pound him to the ground with his remaining strength. Still he held back and looked at Fasha, who was still standing alone in the middle of the plains were she had fought Vegeta.

Her naked form was beautiful to behold, every muscle in her body was firmly toned, just like a warrior should, her back showed a few scars, along with her legs, but if anything that made her more appealing, she was a warrior to the core, a true soldier, a fighter to the death. Holding his bruised arm, he sat down next to his brother, who was staring off into the distance deep in thought.

When Fasha finally moved, it was slowly, and towards them. She gritted her teeth in pain and Kakarot, who had grabbed Nappa's scouter, read her power level.

1800.

She was exhausted. Without a word, she walked past them and went towards Tien, roughly turning him around. She grabbed his shirt and took if off, a feat that was made easier by the fact that he had no left arm, she then pulled his pants and placed them on, protecting her bruised legs from the cold rain and wind. Kakarot looked up at the sky, still covered in grey clouds threatening to unleash a deluge upon them, just like it had for the past hour or so.

It was eerie to see Fasha dressed like his dead friend, the pants were too long for her and they covered her feet, the shirt was too big and it hung like a huge cloth, but Kakarot thought she still looked wonderful. The epitome of what a Saiyan warrior should be, he thought. She reached them and sat down next to them without a word. The three remaining warriors sat down in the middle of the green plains, enjoying the aftermath of one of the greatest battles they had ever had.

Fasha felt like the time she had been ambushed by those bastard in the Saiyan-Tuffle war when she was but a girl. Three of those losers had tried to take her down, and while she had succeeded in killing them, the effort had left her so exhausted she had been unable to even walk.

Raditz' mind was transported to his first solo assignment, the one he had told Kakarot about. He felt some sort of connection with his brother, as he realized that when he had fought there, he too had thought like Kakarot, he too thought that he was invincible, he too thought naively about fighting, but he had learned, and maybe now that his baby brother had lived a battle, a real battle, he would grow up somewhat.

Kakarot relived the battle over and over, feeling every blow again, experiencing it from different angles, loving every second of it, but Goku was only reliving the death of his friends, the way Krillin's neck had snapped like a twig, Tien's scream as he clutched his severed arm. It all played on his mind as vivid as if he was looking at it happen again.

He closed his eyes and laid down on the cool grass, thinking hard again. It seemed he was doing a lot of thinking these days. It couldn't be like this... could it? He had lost four friends today, in a single fight. Fasha had gone her entire career on his father's squad without losing once, until they were betrayed. How could it be? How could he lose most of his friends in a single fight while Fasha had lived with them through hundreds of battles? Was he weak? Was he not a good fighter? He had fought well against Nappa, exceedingly well in fact, he had taken down the Saiyan general in less than a minute, he had killed the six Saibamen Vegeta had set loose on him. He had held his ground against Vegeta, at least for a while, was that not enough? Was he not strong enough? Was that why his friends had died?

"The first thing you need to learn if we're going to keep this up" Fasha spoke, and it broke Kakarot's trance. "Is to deal with loss."

"Right" he answered softly, in a weak voice.

"People die in war, and more often than not you will lose somebody on your side, that's a fact."

"You've told me."

"You can't let it get to you. We Saiyans honour our dead-"

"By fighting" he interrupted. "By becoming stronger, by killing everybody involved in their death, by becoming the best warriors we can."

"Now you're talking like a true Saiyan, baby brother!" Raditz said with a chuckle.

"The way I see it, Freeza seems to have a little part in all of this, as well."

It was Fasha's turn to chuckle this time, but her gaze turned serious again when she looked at Kakarot.

"Then I'd say we have a lot of training to do, don't we?"

Both male Saiyans nodded, Raditz with a smile and Kakarot with a frown, but both wishing the day they would be able to kill Freeza with their bare hands.

It was a tiny whisper, the faintest of gusts, the slightest change in the air. There was almost no warning at all, had Kakarot not had his eyes closed he would have never noticed it. He pushed Fasha down to the ground and got down himself, as the purple energy ball flew past them and crashed against the ground, a dozen meters from where they were. The impact was so strong it sent them flying into the air, all three of them too exhausted to stay airborne.

"What the hell?" Raditz yelled as he stood up, being the least injured of the three.

They turned their gazes to see Vegeta standing up away from them, maybe a hundred meters away from them, with his right hand pointed at them. His face and arms were covered in blood, his armour was cracked and ripped to shreds, just like his skin. His right leg had a severe burn on it, and his left arm looked all but unusable, but still the Saiyan prince stood defiant.

"Impossible! The three of us hit him!" Kakarot yelled as he did his best to stand up, but his burning legs wouldn't allow him, and his arms were too tired to do all the work, and he fell down on the ground again. "What is he made off?"

3200.

Higher than any of them. He would kill the three of them.

"You scum!" Vegeta yelled at them as he slowly advance. "You low class trash! You think you can kill me? ME? I am the prince of all Saiyans, I am the strongest Saiyan alive, I will not be brought down by you! I will not be defeated!"

"We can't beat him!" Raditz muttered as he took a few frightened steps back. "It can't be!"

"Stand your ground!" Fasha ordered him as she stood up, ignoring the burning feeling all through her body, doing her best to placate the pain threatening to shut her body down. With a scream of pain she stood up. "Kakarot, I can't beat him alone."

"I can't stand up" he admitted, feeling a pang of shame at his words. He was a Saiyan warrior, he had to fight, that was what he was born to do, what he had been raised to do, he had to fight. And yet he couldn't. Feeling completely helpless, Kakarot laughed softly. "I can't stand up."

"I don't need you to stand up" she told him as she took a step towards him. "Give me what energy you have left... I just need... a little bit, one last push."

Stretching his arm, Kakarot grabbed hold of Fasha's leg, and began sending what energy he had left to her, he did not stop when he felt his energy decreasing to dangerous levels, he did not stop when the darkness began to cover his eyes, he only stopped when his hand became too heavy to keep holding up. He saw with the corner of his eye how his brother grabbed Fasha's arm and transferred all his energy to her before he too, fell down to the ground.

His scouter beeped.

3400.

Kakarot chuckled, it would have to do.

00

The pain receded somewhat, her muscles didn't hurt as much as they did before, and her sight sharpened somewhat. She could now see the Saiyan prince walking towards them, now much closer. He was focusing as best he could on them, transferring his energy to his right hand, preparing one last energy ball to hit them with. At their current state he would probably kill them, but thankfully his left eyes was swollen shut, and the way he stumbled told her he didn't have much balance to aim properly.

She closed her eyes and focused for a few seconds, ignoring the curses the Saiyan Prince was throwing at them. She allowed her energy to flow freely through her, not concentrating it on one area, like Vegeta was, but spreading it all over her body. It wasn't too high, but it was enough.

She felt her legs becoming lighter and her head stopped pounding as hard as it did, when she opened her eyes she could see Vegeta properly. A tiny purple energy ball glowing on his hand.

It happened in an instant. She ran forward before jumping straight at him, she gathered a tiny amount of power and shot forward even faster, ducking her head to avoid the energy ball that Vegeta threw at her, she glanced back for a split second and saw that it would miss Raditz and Kakarot. Turning her attention on the Saiyan prince, she slashed at his face downward, once more upward and planted a solid kick on his stomach. She punched his face and sent him flying upward a few meters, before he had a chance to regain balance she jumped up, clenched his head tightly between her knees and flew upward. Further and further she flew into the clouds, ignoring the raindrops that fell on her face and the weak punches Vegeta threw at her back and legs. He was much too weak, just like her.

She flew a few more meters and broke through the clouds, earning a second of sunlight on her tired face, with a look of pure enjoyment on it, she rushed back down, flying faster and faster towards the ground. Vegeta yelled at her, but the air rushing past her ears rendered her deaf, her knees burned with the effort of keeping the prince encased, but she flew faster and faster. She rushed down past the grey clouds again and spotted the battlefield, she was far enough from Kakarot and Raditz, they wouldn't feel the blow, not much at any rate. She found an appropriate spot and rushed down, faster than she had ever done, she rushed down at speeds that defied logic, and at the last possible moment, at the very last millisecond, she raised her legs and turned in the air, placing Vegeta beneath her, her violet eyes shone brightly, and she did not close them before the impact.

00

The strength of the attack lifted Raditz and Kakarot off the ground and threw them a few more meters away, both of them groaning in pain. The shockwave that followed made their teeth chatter and their bones shake.

Raditz turned his head and looked at the crashing site. A small dust cloud had been raised, but the rain had made the soil moist, and it wasn't much, a few soft gusts of wind whipped the dust away, and he saw Fasha on her knees in the middle of the small crater. With noticeable effort, the Saiyan woman stood up and looked down at the battered prince, who was hidden from Raditz' view.

"That'll teach him" he muttered before he passed out. "Idiotic fool... You earned it."

00

Fasha stood up, barely, and looked down at Vegeta, who was still breathing, too stubborn to die, but too much blood was leaving his body, and his breaths were shallow and uneven, he would die soon.

"Never underestimate a Saiyan woman, your highness" she said to him as she walked away, leaving the agonizing Saiyan to die. She only managed two or three steps however, before her eyes closed involuntarily and she fell down on the ground. "Never... underestimate... us..."


	16. Fuel For Hatred

Chapter 16

Everything hurt more than it should be possible, his arms felt like two pieces of lead that burned his body with their mere presence. His rib cage had been all but crushed, his right leg had been broken in two different places and his left knee had dislocated completely. His head pounded from the second he woke up to the moment he fell asleep, every breath hurt and every time he breathed out he could feel his ribs protesting against it. But what hurt the most was the lack of strength.

Kakarot had given Fasha everything he had, he had saved none for himself. He knew the dangers of doing that, but he had had no choice at the time, or so he kept telling him. Raditz had scanned him once, a few days ago, and his power level had been of 2000. 2000! Him! He had progressed so far these years, he had pushed himself harder than anybody else! He had given it everything he had, and this is what he got in return? Was this what he could expect after every fight?

No, he thought despite the pounding noises on his head. This wasn't it, Raditz had been healed after a few weeks, Fasha after the first month, but he had taken the worst, ti hadn't been because he had given Fasha everything, had he been stronger he would have been able to sustain Vegeta's attacks, he would have been able to fight better. If anything this was his fault, and there was nothing else to do but become stronger, and he would become stronger. He wold surpass Raditz, he would surpassed Fasha, he would surpass Vegeta. He would surpass Freeza himself.

The doctor Bulma had hired just for him entered the room again, pushing his large glasses up his nose as he checked his medical records. Kakarot glared at him, he hated that stupid man, keeping him trapped here, not letting him train, not letting him regain his strength, it was all his fault, everything was his fault! Krillin was dead, Yamcha was dead, Tien and Piccolo were dead, they were all dead, and it was his fault! With barely controlled fury he opened his mouth and somehow managed to resist the impulse to bite the man's finger off. He swallowed his pill as the man cheerfully told him about his progress these past days and how despite his mutations (Bulma hadn't told him he was a Saiyan) he was recovering extremely fast and he would be out of bed soon. Soon... that was the worst, his lies. Soon. Raditz had healed soon, Fasha had healed soon, but not him, he was taking forever. Why?

Fasha entered the room, like she usually did after the doctor left and asked him how he felt, how his progress was going, but like usual Kakarot did not answer her. He could barely withstand the shame. From the moment she entered the room he wished she would leave and he would refuse to even look at her, and the second she was gone he would find himself longing for her to return. Anger rose on his chest yet again as he recalled the last time she had been here.

_00_

_ "What the hell is wrong with you?" She had asked him, and he had said nothing. "You're not that injured, Kakarot! When will you get back on your feet? We need you fighting as soon as possible!"_

_ "Go away."_

_ "Look at me when I'm talking to you, Kakarot! What is it with you?"_

_ Kakarot looked at her directly and answered her softly._

_ "Go away."_

_ She turned around in anger and left, slamming the door hard enough to rip it right off its hinges._

_ "You talk to him, then!" she had yelled loudly before he heard her take off._

_ Raditz entered the room, grinning at him._

_ "Ah, fuck it. What do you want?"_

_ "Don't be like that, little brother" Raditz answered as he pushed his broken leg aside to sit down on the bed, making Kakarot yelp in pain. "Oh, sorry about that" the bastard had said before patting his legs softly twice with that malicious grin on his face._

_ "What did she mean, you talk to him?"_

_ "Well, sweet, dear, benevolent Fasha has been worried about you, you know" Raditz told him as he grabbed his medical board and flipped it over._

_ "You can't read that, you fool."_

_ "It's still interesting to look at the pictures" he answered. "Vegeta really kicked your ass didn't he?"_

_ "It was the Kamehameha!" he protested yet again._

_ "Yeah, yeah, the Kamehameha took everything out of me, I shot everything I had at him" Raditz mocked him on a whinier version of his voice. "Well it wasn't the Kamehameha who broke your ribs and leg was it?" he asked him with raised eyebrows and a thing smile on his lips._

_ "What do you want?"_

_ "You're still sour about your friends? Don't worry about it Kakarot, Fasha's got a nice little plan all figured out, it'll work perfectly with our vendetta and everything."_

_ "What? What plan?"_

_ "Ah, ah, ah, ah!" he said as he waved his finger at him. "That's for you to find out when you get better" he told him as he roughly moved his broken leg and patted it again, earning a muffled scream from Kakarot._

_ "When I get out of here I'm going to kick your ass!" he had yelled after the departing Saiyan, who had been laughing his ass off all the way to the outside._

_ "Move it, blue girl" he said between chuckles. Bulma had entered the room, looking decidedly pissed at Raditz, just like he was actually._

_00_

While it annoyed him, he had no problem talking to Raditz, he could talk to Bulma, he could talk to Master Roshi, but whenever Fasha arrived he was unable to answer her, his mind turned blank and the only thing he was painfully aware of was the fact that he was weak, laying on a bed, unable to move by himself, as miserable and as ashamed as a Saiyan could be, and she insisted on looking after him, every damn day she kept coming to watch his shame. Did she enjoy it? Did she want to see him broken, defeated, humiliated, scarred for the rest of his life? He gritted his teeth again and clutched his hands into fists. Why did she kept coming?

The doctor entered the room, saying he had forgotten to give him his shot for the pain, and Kakarot wished he could snap his frail, old neck.

00

Raditz wasn't very good when it came to talking, unless it was narrating something. He wasn't very good when it came to reading people and their emotions. He wasn't very good at reading or thinking very hard. He was good at fighting, and telling jokes, but if there was one thing Raditz was great at, if there was one thing in which he was unsurpassed, one thing in which he could beat any other Saiyan or alien at, it was eating.

The third carcass joined the growing pile of dead cows and discarded pieces of fruit as he kept digging into more and more food. Before he had arrived on Earth, he had eaten a little bit more than Nappa, and the huge bastard had an appetite to match his size, but after he trained with Kakarot in that room, he was certain he as eating almost twice of what he ate before. He ate an apple in four bites and swallowed hard, making room on his mouth to fit the cow leg he was holding on his right hand. As he chewed he noticed Fasha sitting crossed legged, her gaze a million miles away, her food barely touched (by Saiyan standards anyway, she had eaten two cow legs, four apples and one orange since they began eating half an hour ago).

"Still thinking about your lover?"

She didn't flinch or shot him a dirty look like he had expected, but her neck tensed up hard and her gaze became somewhat colder than it was. The seconds ticked by and even Raditz slowed down, chewing slowly as if not wanting to disturb the peace.

"He's hurt."

"What? Oh Kakarot, of course he's hurt, Vegeta gave him a good stomping around. At least I think he did, it's hard to see what's happening in front of you when you got numerous flashes of white rage blinding you and telling you to kill and destroy everything in front of you, but yeah, I think that's what happened."

"That's not what I mean... Kakarot's hurt... because his friends died."

Raditz snorted and bite a large piece of meat, barely chewing it before he swallowed.

"I'll never understand Kakarot, I guess the time he spent living here softened him. Why care about those weaklings? They couldn't do much anyways."

"He cares... because... fighting isn't everything to Kakarot" she spoke slowly and softly as if suddenly realizing it, the words sounding strange coming from her, who had trained him since he had learned how to walk. "He loves fighting and he wants to be as strong as possible, just like you and me but... but he doesn't think it's the only thing."

"Now you're speaking nonsense" he said as he swallowed the last piece of meat before throwing the large bone aside. "What else is there in live beside fighting? Eating? Sleeping? Mating? That's the cycle of life! Live, kill, eat, sleep, mate, die in a glorious battle bringing your enemies down with you. That's life!"

"No... Not to Kakarot" she mumbled to herself, her eyes still a million miles away.

"What else is there to him, then?"

"Laughing" she mumbled softly, making it really hard for Raditz to hear her. "Swimming... he loves swimming... reading, he reads sometimes, even though it's hard for him in this language... he likes to fight, but it's not the only thing he lives for."

"Mmm... that sounds bad" Raditz said as he munched the last apple. "Maybe you should just sock him in the head next time you go see him, it'll pop him right back in shape."

"You're sounding a little bit more arrogant every day. You liking your new power?" she asked, looking at him for the first time in the day.

"Liking? I'm loving it! And if I sound arrogant it's because I've earned it, I've worked hard for this strength, sorry if I'm proud of it."

"Just make sure you don't do to him the same thing Vegeta and Nappa did to you" she told him in an even tone, and Raditz stopped eating and looked at her.

"What do you mean... exactly?"

"Don't start bossing him around just cause you're stronger than him now" she snarled at him. "You remember that he surpassed you once, he can do it again."

"Hey, whose side are you on? And what are the sides again? I thought we're off to get Freeza, not fight among ourselves!" he answered as he stood up in anger, his noticeably short fuse already lit. "Besides I'm his older brother, he should listen to what I have to say!"

"And I'm older and stronger than both of you! Yet you don't see me bossing him around, calling him names and the like, so make sure you don't do it either" she warned him. Swallowing a smile, Raditz grabbed the last orange and bit into it. He had nailed it. Despite his best efforts, a small chuckle escaped his lips, and by the way Fasha bit into the last of piece of her now cold meat, he knew she had heard him.

00

Kakarot could barely move at first, but he had not given up. He carefully did the movements the cursed Doctor told him to do, he made sure he stretched as best he could every morning and massaged his own muscles to prevent cramps and he walked a little farther every day. At first he had walked in his own room, for he had been much too weak, and there was no way he was going to be seen like that. But once he was strong enough to walk on his own he had walked around Bulma's house, looking at the massive garden, watching Bulma and her father work on numerous inventions and poke their heads on Nappa's space ship, and reading the only book Bulma had that interested him, but there was only so much time a Saiyan could go without fighting, and he could feel his blood begin to boil at the slightest thought.

The moment Doctor Rin had entered the room he shot his hand forward, ready to blast his head off, only to stop at the last moment. He couldn't kill him... not even if he was furious, not even if he saw white and felt like his body was going to explode unless he killed something. The Doctor ignored him and grabbed the small needle, making his skin crawl. He prepared himself as best he could, but a damn needle was a damn needle, and he still jumped up and screamed in pain when the doctor injected him.

"I can't understand you boys" he mumbled to himself. "You get into fights and take beatings that leave you withing inches of death, and you squirm when I'm going to inject you with a tiny and harmless needle?"

"It's not harmless! You could poke my eye out, or you could miss the vein and go straight through my muscle or there could be air inside it and you could kill me with that!"

"Please, only a human would die from that."

"What?"

"I have studied anatomy, my boy. Yes I know from your long list of curses that you thought I hadn't the faintest idea what I was doing, but I know a human body when I see one, and you are no human. Bulma's explanations were fun to listen to, and I even pretended that your tail was a phony one like she suggested, but really, you would have to be an idiot not to notice that you're not human."

"Ah" Kakarot found himself at a loss for words, not sure about what to say. "How much is Bulma paying you to keep quiet?"

"You have no idea the amount of money I'm making, my boy" the doctor chuckled as he got up and left the room. "You're my favorite patient!"

The stunned Kakarot was left alone in the room, and for the first time since he had been bedridden, Goku laughed.

00

Goku was still in bandages, but these were fresh, they had probably just wrapped him up again, which meant he was probably in a bad mood. Bulma gently placed down the tray she had brought and looked at him with concern in her eyes. He had changed so much since they first met, she could hardly recognize the young boy she had befriended with the promise of strong enemies and entertaining fights. She looked at the small round stone carefully placed in the middle of the nightstand. And to think the dragon balls were gone.

He had dark rings under his weary eyes, his skin had lost some of its glow and looked somewhat pale when compared to when he had come for their armors. She could see his dark blue veins on the few parts of his arms that weren't wrapped up. When he turned to face her, she was able to see his stomach, very banged up despite the fact that his fight had been more than 5 weeks ago.

"You're not sleeping well" she told him, it wasn't a question. She led him to bed and they both sat down, side by side.

"He got away" he muttered softly as Bulma handed him a spoon. He wasn't supposed to be moving his arm so much yet, but his pride would never let him be spoon fed by her. She was silent as he ate, she remember Goku wasn't much of a talker when he was eating. He finished and placed the spoon down, clanking it softly against he large metal bowl. "Vegeta got away... He'll be back."

"Don't worry Goku, you'll get stronger, you'll all get stronger. This time he doesn't have any help, the three of you will beat him easily!"

"Raditz is stronger than me now."

"What?"

"During our fight he got beaten bad, and he ate a Senzu bean... He's stronger than me now. At first the difference wasn't that large, but by now he must be much stronger than me! And I'm still stuck here! I feel like I'm trapped!"

"Goku, calm down!" she yelled at him as she stood up, turning off the emergency call button that had been activated whenever his blood pressure began to increase. "You'll never get back on your feet if you keep this up!"

"I know! I'm not an idiot, Bulma!"

"I know that, but you're just being stu-"

"Kakarot?"

Both of them turned around and looked at the figure standing on the door, and their jaws almost hit the floor in surprise.

00

She hated the outfit she was wearing, but there wasn't much else to wear. Even Raditz had made fun of her when he saw her, although his own pink shorts had made him shut up quickly. She was wearing thin black pants and a tiny white shirt that left her stomach bare with red boots and red wristbands. The lousy outfit would not protect her from the weakest energy blast, but it was everything Bulma had that would fit her. She felt naked with that lousy clothing, but there was nothing she could wear until Bulma made new armors for them.

She had hoped Kakarot would be alone, but there she was, like she always was. For a second the three of them were silent, until the silence became too uncomfortable for the human girl, and she coughed a few times.

"Fasha? What are you doing?"

"I came to check up on you" she said in her softest voice, which wasn't very soft at all, but it was as best she could manage. "You look better."

"I am" he answered, finally telling him something else other than to go away, and for that she was thankful.

"I'll leave you two alone" Bulma said as she quickly left the room, obviously uncomfortable.

"Why are you here? What's up with the outfit? Your armor got broken?"

"No" she said as she walked towards him. "I... I need to-"

"What?"

"I said... I need to... I... I made a mistake."

"What? Speak up, I can't hear you."

"I'm sorry!" she snapped and yelled at the taller Saiyan, stunning him, not with the strength of her words, but by her words themselves. "I need to apologize to you!"

"What? What for?"

"Kakarot... Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight Freeza with us?"

"What? Are you testing me? Of course I do! I'm a Saiyan warrior! I won't rest until Freeza's dead! It's my job to fight him! It's what I was born for! It's what you raised me for!"

"That's not what I asked you" she told him softly, looking down at the ground. "Do you _want_ to fight Freeza? Wouldn't... wouldn't you rather stay here? On Earth?"

"What? Are you... you're planning to leave me behind! Why? I can fight! I swear I can fight, I can help you! You need my help! Please Fasha don't leave me behind!" The Saiyan panicked, he would have gotten on his knees if he could have bent them, she was certain. "I have to fight Freeza! Why have you been training me all this time? Why have you spent all these years training me if it wasn't to kill Freeza?"

"Kakarot, relax" she said as he placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm not going to leave you behind... I just wanted to know if you really wanted to fight. Not for me, or for your brother, or for your father, but for you."

"For me?"

"In the end, that's who we fight for, isn't it?"

"I..."

"Think about it Kakarot" she told him as she placed her other hand on his left shoulder, holding him in place. "If you decide to join us we might never return to this planet, we might all die fighting against Freeza."

"... I'm going, there's no force strong enough to hold me back... Freeza must die by a Saiyan's hand."

"I love your enthusiasm, but we're not going after Freeza just yet, there's another planet we're hitting first... You'll love it" she told him as she rubbed his sore shoulders gently. "There are large green plains just like on this planet, and water so clean you'll be able see clearly for miles when you swim in it. You could take a few books with you, it's not like we won't have any free time while we get there."

"What?" Kakarot asked her, hoping she hadn't hit her head. "What are you talking about?"

"Namek, Kakarot" she explained to him with a soft smile on her face. "That's where we're going next."

"What? Piccolo's planet? Why?"

"Because you're friends are very special" she told him. _Very special indeed._

_"Goku!" _a very recognizable voice was heard by both Fasha and Goku, who looked as stunned as possible.

"What? Who's there? K-Krillin?"

_"It's me, Goku! You won't believe where we are!"_

"Krillin... what? What the hell is going on?"

_"Goku"_ another voice broke in, this one he did not recognize. "_My name is King Kai, King of the Northern worlds. Know that you have the great honor of being the first person alive that I talk to since... well, since I spoke to Fasha earlier, but I hadn't spoken to anybody for at least ten thousand years before you two... I left you speechless? Good. When Kami was killed he came to me, pleading me to train your friends, they tell me you have a personal vendetta against Freeza, is it?"_

"King... King Kai?"

"Just answer him" Fasha reassured him.

"I... Freeza killed my race... he killed my father, he destroyed my race... Yes, I have a personal vendetta against him."

_"Mmm..." the voice muttered for a few seconds. "You're not a pure person, that I knew already, no Saiyan is... but I can find kindness in your mind, honesty, loyalty... even love? Most interesting... You are one peculiar Saiyan."_

"What? What are you talking about?"

_"Not very bright, are you? I'm the King of the entire Northern Quadrant, you think I can't read a single person's mind? Now shut up and listen! Freeza's power is beyond your imagination, even if you had an entire army of warriors at your level you wouldn't be able to kill Freeza, you probably wouldn't even be able to harm him!"_

"What? That's impossible!"

_"I said shut up! Thankfully, I am here to help you."_

"Help us? Why help us? Don't you have an entire galaxy to check on? Why would you waste your time on us?"

_"It's simple, although I recall something about a certain King telling you to shut up. Freeza has been terrorizing my quadrant for far too long. To put it bluntly, I want him dead... I know, I know, being a God King and all I should be impartial, but he's too evil to be left alive! He's destroyed countless worlds and conquered just as many. If you think Vegeta was strong, you're in for a rude awakening my boy. Vegeta is nothing but one of Freeza's lowest pawns... If you are to defeat him, you will have to resort to drastic measures. You will have to prepare for the greatest battle in your entire lives... and maybe the last."_

"I'm not afraid of dying! But... but why us? Why help us? Being a God King couldn't you just kill Freeza yourself?"

_"Don't question me, boy!" _the angered voice came, and Kakarot shrunk somewhat on his bed. _"I too, hold more power than you realize! Where was I? Oh, yes. The reason why I'm helping you is because you are a warrior race, you have unlimited potential and with the right training, you could overcome any barrier set before you, not to mention you already are on the suicidal mission of killing Freeza, so why not help you do it if I can, it's a win-win situation. And as to why I don't simply kill Freeza... well... he's too strong for me."_

"WHAT?" he yelled standing up despite the pain. "Too strong for the God King of the Northern Quadrant? What kind of God are you? Who put you in charge of the Northern Quadrant if you can't even take care of it?"

_"Hey! Watch your tone, boy! You're talking to the one of the four Supreme Overlords of the universe! I am simply... forbidden to interfere with the affairs of the living."_

"Forbidden? By who?"

_"It doesn't matter! What matters is that you get to planet Namek and wish that the three of you be transported to my world, where I will train you to the best of my abilities. You can then wish for your friends to be brought back to life as well! With enough hard work, I am certain that you will defeat Freeza and put an end to his reign of terror once and for all, I'm getting truly sick of looking at those white and purple buildings of his."_

"Wait... wish?"

_"Wow... you're a really dense one, you know that? Wish with the Dragon Balls, boy! All right, I'm done... You four! I never said you could stop running! Bubbles! Hit them!"_

"What was that?" he asked after a few seconds, hoping the weird voice on his head had gone away.

"I have no idea, but he says that he can help against Freeza and we need all the help we can get... Kakarot-"

"Huh?"

"I need to be certain... I need to ask you again... will you fight with us? Do you wish to fight Freeza with us? Even if it means your death? Raditz' death? My death?"

Without looking at her, Kakarot nodded.

"I want to fight. I want to become stronger, I want to be the strongest warrior in the universe, I want to wield ultimate power!" He answered her as he felt the hot boiling anger rise on his chest again. Raditz had been wrong, this wasn't Fasha's anger, it was his won anger, his own rage, and Freeza was his fuel, as long as he lived, his hate would burn, it had to. "I want to make sure someone like Freeza can never harm another race like he harmed us, I-"

He mumbled the last few words, but Fasha's lips pressing against his took too much of his mind to think of what he was going to say.

_00_

_ Fun facts!_

_ Chapter 15: Operation Annihilation (Annihilator) on the entire fight really, but more precisely, on Fasha's final assault. It's called hysteric Saiyan lady in Budokai Tenkaichi 3, look it up on youtube if you want to see with your own eyes how hard Vegeta got his ass kicked._

_ Chapter 16: Fuel for Hatred (Satyricon) on Kakarot's initial thoughts, just in case you didn't get what I tried to say. Kakarot get angry extremely easily in this chapter, because he doesn't really know how to deal with having lost so many friends and having faced such a strong opponent and having been beaten down so hard and feeling helpless, he isn't really angry at Bulma or Fasha or Raditz or the doctor, he's angry at the situation._

_ Bubbles is the ape living in king Kai's planet._


	17. Fashioned From Dust

Chapter 17

_"I want to fight! I want to become stronger, I want to be the strongest warrior in the universe! I want to wield ultimate power!"_

Fasha tapped her fingers on her arm as she stared down the sunset, her brain deep in thought. Her bright purple eyes shone brightly with the afternoon sun.

"He wants ultimate power... for himself" she thought out loud. It was always easier to speak her thoughts than think them, Saiyans weren't meant for heavy thinking. "For us? Or... to fight... to conquer... he' wouldn't... Would he? If he... What do you want, Kakarot? Is it..."

00

Kakarot stretched his legs and walked around the room, taking longer steps than he had before. He then exited the room and left the building, jogging somewhat faster. Without using any energy at all, he began running through the city, jumping over roads and houses whenever there were too many people. He quickly reached the city outskirts and ran around the city without using power. After ten laps he began to feel tired and he checked the watch Bulma had given him. Only 30 minutes had gone by. Clutching his fists in anger, Kakarot pushed ran faster, ignoring the tiny burning sensation on his chest that was very slowly growing.

00

Her head had begun to hurt again, so she took her scouter off, it looked weird with her current outfit anyways, and continued staring into the distance.

"You love fighting, you love training, you love becoming stronger... you love all that... but I know you, Kakarot... What are you after, what do you want?"

00

He panted heavily as he finished lap 98, barely managing to keep up jogging pace by now. The sun was almost gone, he had to reach one hundred before night came, he had to.

00

"You said you wanted ultimate power... why? This... goes beyond Freeza, it goes beyond everything. What do you want?"

00

He finished running and jumped up as high as he could, barely reaching the top of the buildings in the city, which weren't very high, at least in this part of the city. He landed neatly on the top floor and looked down at himself. He was sweating heavily, he was tired, his muscles seemed somewhat smaller, he felt much lighter as well, but he was weaker, there was no doubt of that. He shook his head in confusion. Saiyans were supposed to get stronger every time they recovered from the brink of death.

"It must not extend to our physical condition" he muttered as he crossed his arms and floated sideways, looking up at the darkening sky. "It must be restricted to our power levels..."

With a short burst of power her left the city and flew higher into the air, he could test it here. He placed his hands next to his hip and cupped them together, slowly redirecting his inner energy towards them. He closed his eyes and allowed for his energy to flow slowly, at its own pace, it would not do if he hurt himself so soon after recovery. A tiny blue ball began to glow between his hands, and he kept pushing his energy towards it for the next several minutes.

"Kamehameha!" he yelled as he fired the blue energy wave towards the sky, away from the Earth. For the next few seconds the city below was bathed in the blue light as his attack traveled the city, rising after a few hundred meters. The wide energy beam kept rising and becoming smaller and smaller, struggling against the friction in the air to stay alive for a while longer. It kept traveling upwards and almost escaped Earth's grasp before it finally disappeared, and the blue glow died with it. He opened his eyes and checked his scouter's reading.

9200.

"Over 9000" he muttered to himself with a chuckle. "Not bad at all."

Feeling somewhat better about himself, Kakarot flew slowly back towards Capsule Corp, the dark sky granting him enough cover to avoid the curious' eyes below, there were some really annoying humans in this planet.

00

"You're no defender... the only reason you care about this planet is because you grew up here... but it's not your home... is it? Is that it?" Fasha kept muttering as she watched the last glimpse of daylight fade away. "What do you want Kakarot?"

The sun went down and Fasha kept thinking, until night came. The city was still busy, below here numerous citizens walked around, from building to building. Cars raced through the streets, each striving to reach their destination on time. Each of them living in their own individual world, not caring for the person next to them. So much like Saiyans had been.

The thought triggered a new gear in Fasha's head. So much like Saiyans _had _been... What would happen now? The Saiyans were a dying race, she had come to terms with that, it didn't matter to her if the Saiyans went extinct after Freeza had died and every trace of his organization destroyed, but did Kakarot?"

_"I want to wield ultimate power!"_

"For us... for our race... That's what you want!" she yelled out loud, her own words surprising her as they came out of her mouth, yet they were all true. "You want to wield ultimate power because you don't want anything like this to happen again... you want to prevent the Saiyan race from ever being humiliated again, from ever been slapped and degraded like it was under Freeza... You want... Oh, Kakarot!"

The sky light up in a bright blue flash for a few instants, which she clearly recognized as Kakarot's Kamehameha wave. He had been training again. With a smile on her face Fasha grabbed her scouter, which had been pointing at her and placed it on, surprised at the two readings it had registered, had somebody sneaked up on her without her noticing it?

3000.

2.

While 2 was certainly a power level she could expect to find on Earth, Fasha found it eerie she had not noticed the person behind her, had it been Bulma? She turned around and found nobody there. Curious, she pressed her scouter's scan button. The scouter scanned the area and the same two power levels appeared. 3000, herself and 2. Behind her again. Fasha flew up and looked down, who was it? Why were they hiding? And how were they hiding? She looked down at the balcony she had just left and was surprised to see nobody. Not on the other side of the glass doors, not under the balcony or on the lower floors, who was it? She scanned again and the two power levels came up again.

She reduced the range and scouted again. Her scouter displayed the two same power levels. She reduced the range again and scouted, the same results. Fasha floated in mid air, removing possibilities from her head to explain this strange phenomenon. The scouter could be malfunctioning, that was of course a possibility, but to show the same error? Under so many different variables? Doubtful, there had to be another explanation. Fasha thought for a moment as she flew in a circle, the power level was still there, the same scenario she had pushed away from her head six times already popped up again, and again she pushed it away, it could not be that, it simply could not be, there had to be another reason. She reduced the diameter to one meter around her and scanned, fearful of what she already suspected.

Sweat was dropping from her forehead like she had just finished training, her hand was shaking as she pressed the large red button. It was so hard to concentrate that she was forced to land on the ceiling of Capsule Corp.

The two power levels came up.

3000.

2.

She heard something flying towards her, and half a second later she recognized it as Kakarot, he had flown back to her. He was beaming proudly, but she did not notice because she was extremely busy doing something else.

Slowly, taking very deep breaths, her heart and head pounding hard inside of her, Fasha looked down and scanned her stomach. The tears in her eyes didn't let her see properly, but she could still make out the single digit her scouter displayed in front of her left eye. She let out a few gasps of surprise. Kakarot walked to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder, confused by her reaction. She said nothing, she simply took off her scouter, placed it on Kakarot's ear, made him look at her stomach and pressed the scan button. The same digit was displayed in front of Kakarot's black eye, who widened considerably.

2.

_00_

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Fasha's pregnant! :o_

_ Chapter 17 Fashioned From Dust (Agent Steel) on Fasha's child. The title refers to the current condition of the Saiyan race, three fighters and one fallen prince isn't much of a race is it?_

_ Kakarot's power level was 2 when he was born, while his child (boy or girl? :o) already has a power level of 2 with only two months of gestation, so he or she's going to be stronger than him :D_


	18. Into The Storm

Chapter 18

The plan was solid, but it had a lot of variables they did not know, and Fasha was very worried about it. If Raditz could fulfill his part, then they would have no problem, but she doubted the hot headed Saiyan would be able to. Still they had no choice.

Fasha, along with Kakarot and Bulma watched Raditz as he climbed on the space pod, and Bulma even wished him luck, the humans were pinning all their hopes on him.

"Raditz!" Kakarot yelled at his brother, who turned to face him with one hand resting on his pod. The Saiyan turned around, and Fasha felt transported in time. One second she was standing on Earth next to Kakarot and Bulma, and the next she was in Planet Vegeta, next to Bardock and Berean. The small clearing in Mount Pazou where Raditz had positioned his pod transformed into a large spaceport, the bright blue sky turned into a pale gray sky, and both Raditz and Fasha turned into younger versions of themselves. Raditz turned into a teenage boy, back when he had held his hair back because it made him look cool, and she turned into an almost fully grown Saiyan, a few months after her second growth spurt. That had been four months before they were ambushed in Planet Meat; four months before this all began.

_"Don't get cocky. You're alone out there, if you screw up nobody will be able to help you." Bardock told him firmly._

_"Don't discourage him, Bardock." Berean had told him, pushing her stubborn hair out of her face. "That planet will be dead and ready for sale within a week, right son?"_

_"Ha!" Raditz boasted as he closed his fist. "It'll take a few days at most! I won't be careless, father. I'll crush them before they can even mount an offensive!"_

_"Good, then get the job done and get back here, there will more work for you, when you're doing playing around" His father told him with a smile. Raditz nodded and took off, his pod shooting into sky like blaster fire._

The second was over and she returned to Earth, just as Raditz looked at her with a grin on his face. A grin she didn't realize she was returning.

"Take care of Turnia, there are precious few of us left" he ordered her, and she nodded firmly. Fasha, Kakarot and even Raditz might have lost the hidden meaning behind Raditz words, but Bulma did not.

_"Take care of my niece."_

He got inside his pod and closed the hatch and without any dramatics, Raditz shot off, flying for Namek as fast as his pod would go.

"I hope he comes back soon" Bulma said out loud, to nobody but herself. Another human might have picked up the dreamy tone she had in her voice, but Kakarot and Fasha simply nodded and agreed with her.

00

Fasha bit her lower lip as she was placed on the operating table. She felt another contraction hit her and she gripped the table hard, stopping only when she heard a tiny crack coming from it. Following the doctor's instructions, Fasha took deep breaths, doing her best to calm down. It was hard, feeling pain and not being able to fight it. Had she been in a battle she could have fought back, shielded herself from it, but as another contraction hit her and she screamed in pain, she realized she couldn't protect herself from this. She spread her legs and waited for the doctor to tell her what to do. For the first time since she had landed on Earth, Fasha was grateful for the fact that humans and Saiyans were very similar. With her tail firmly wrapped around her the doctor did not even know she wasn't human.

With the corner off her eye, Fasha saw Kakarot outside the room, looking at her with an even face. She screamed out in pain again and she pushed, just like the doctor told her to. She really wished that this planet had more advance technology, she would take even the most primitive birthing machine over a deep breath again, Fasha pushed, and her arms felt like they were going to break with the force. Again and again she pushed, until finally she heard a small cry. She felt a sharp pain between her legs that she barely registered as she heard the strange sound again. She froze completely once the pain was gone, and she heard it again.

The cry turned into a loud wailing, and a small baby with long black hair emerged in the arms of the human doctor. Fasha stared at her, her violet eyes wide as plates. Her daughter stopped crying and opened her eyes, slowly taking the scenario in front of her. Deciding it wasn't a threat, the tiny Saiyan baby closed her dark violet eyes and went back to sleep.

The doctor and Bulma talked to her, but she didn't pay attention to them, her daughter was there, just beyond her grasp, and that was all she could understand. She stretched her hands and very carefully, with even more care than she had first taken Kakarot, she grabbed her daughter and held her close to her chest. Her daughter's strong facial features became blurred as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

"She's so strong" Kakarot said, and Fasha finally turned her head away from her daughter and turned him. He had a bright smile on his face, or as Raditz called them, idiotic grins.

Smiling, Fasha took her daughter's head and kissed her forehead, pushing a stray lock back into her thick mat of black hair.

"Turnia…"

00

Namek was very green. The sky was green, the water was green, even the damn Nameks were green. So much green hurt Raditz' eyes and made him sour, but he had promised Fasha he would be patient with them, and he did his best to keep that promise. The immense green plains offered no protection whatsoever, and if he encountered an entire group of Namek warriors he would have no choice but to fight them. Well, others might consider surrender, but that was not an option for Saiyans, if they tried to detain him or take him prisoner he would be forced to kill them, even Fasha would understand that.

Thankfully no warriors opposed him, nobody tried to detain him or hold him against his will. When he landed on the first village a few Nameks looked scared, but most looked simply wary and cautious of him. He tried to smile at them to calm them down, but smiling kindly was not something Raditz could do very well, and he ended up frightening them.

"Hey! I need to find the Dragon Balls! Can any of you... help me?" he shouted at them. The word 'help' still sounded sour on his tongue, but for the sake of the mission he was willing to endure it. "Please?" he added when he remembered how much the blue haired girl had insisted the word was important. A single Namek approached him. He was old, fat and wrinkled, but he stood straight and proud. A few taller, younger Nameks fell behind him when they realized Raditz wasn't showing him the respect they thought he deserved. Warriors, no doubt. His scouter beeped and he read their power levels.

4500.

1230.

4300.

"How do you know of the Dragon Balls, stranger?" the Namek asked him, never taking his unflinching eyes off him.

"I… I know about them because my brother told me about them, I've never actually seen them. They're supposed to grant a wish, right? I need them in order to bring back a Namek that was killed on Earth, and somehow that will revive Earth's God, who will bring Earth's Dragon Balls back in business" he explained as best he could. The Namek eyed him carefully, taking the full measure of his words. He looked surprised at the fact that Raditz knew so much about the Dragon Balls and the fact that he had called them by their actual name, something very few people knew, but he said nothing about it.

"We cannot give our Dragon Ball to anybody that does not have the Elder's authorization."

"Alright…" Raditz answered, waiting for him to continue. The Namek was silent and said nothing more. "So… where is this elder?"

"He will call you if he wants to see you" he simply said and turned his back on him. Raditz felt a very primitive impulse he hadn't felt in a while, the impulse to drive his knee on the Namek's back and blast his head off, but Fasha's and Kakarot's image held him back. They would be pissed if he did, not to mention Turna, if he screwed this up, she would be the one that would suffer the most. Freeza would kill the three of them, that was for sure, but he might be tempted to employ her, and that would be a fate worse than death.

"Wait!" he yelled at them, and the three figures turned to face him. "I really need to see him! I need the Dragon Balls! I… Please" he said again, and this time the word didn't felt so sour. The Namek eyed him carefully and looked down at the ground, thinking.

"Very well" he finally said with a nod. "The elder will see you. He lives in that direction" he told him, pointing away from the village. "If you fly in a straight line you will begin seeing higher and higher plains, his home is at the top of a tall peak. He is expecting you."

"How far away is it?" Raditz asked, turning around to scan the direction he was given. It must have been very far away, because he didn't receive any readings.

"It is on the other side of the planet."

"WHAT? This planet is huge! I'll get lost!"

"Then I suggest you fly carefully, stranger. Leave."

Gritting his teeth, Raditz jumped up into the air and took off in the direction he was given, scanning the area every few minutes, and popping up a negative every single time. He flew as fast as he could, hoping to reach at least a nice place to sleep and maybe hunt before he grew tired. He flew in a straight line for a few hours and he had begun to lose hope of finding a nice place to rest when his scouter beeped.

"Ah! There it is! Two large power levels in point 8829401! Found it!" he yelled as he shot off even faster, using all his energy to reach the location. He could rest once he had scanned the area and decided there was no threat to him there.

00

Vegeta placed his scouter on his ear and checked the area. A few low power levels popped up almost right away, but he ignored those. They were isolated, and from what little he knew of the planet, he knew that Nameks lived in small communities, huddled together, so individual power levels were not of his concern.

Seven small power levels and one large one popped up, and without wasting a second he flew towards them.

Kakarot had been sloppy, he had forgotten to switch his scouter to private, and Vegeta had heard everything during the battle. Grinning, he spotted the village after an hour of flight and floated above it as he checked the area. He landed in the middle of the village, and a few Nameks retreated from him, fearful.

"What business do you have here, stranger?" one of them, a warrior most likely, asked him. Grinning maliciously, Vegeta turned to face him.

"I'm here for the Dragon Balls."

"I don't know what you're talking about. You have not been invited here, so you will leave now, or you will be forced to."

"And just who will force me?" the Saiyan Prince taunted, and on cue, two more tall and broad Nameks appeared. One behind him, the other next to the first one. His scouter beeped, neither of them surpassed the 5000 mark, but he was almost certain they weren't showing their full strength. A fourth Namek walked towards them, stopping a few meters away from him, this one was older than the others, and much fatter and shorter, definitely not a warrior. "Is this the best you have? I should have not gotten my hopes up. Oh well, you'll entertain me for a while" he snickered with a wolfish grin.

00

The elder lived in a tall rock spire. Raditz wondered how such a structure could support itself without collapsing with the years, and with a quick exam as he flew up, he found his answer. The rock was not only much firmer than the ground in both Earth and Planet Vegeta, but it was also much harder, showing none of the usual weakness during his entire flight up the spire.

"Demolishing this place would have been a real challenge" he thought out loud as he landed on the top. Next to him there was a large white house, handmade by the looks of the small irregularities on its walls and ceilings. It had a large glass dome with a purple hint to it, and Raditz wondered if he was being watched. He walked from left to right, pacing like a caged lion. The Namek had told him he was expected, so they must undoubtedly know he was there. Just when his patience was about to end the door opened, and from the inside an even taller Namek than the others exited, his hands clasped behind his back. He was wearing long white pants with the same orange boots they all wore. He had no shirt, he only wore a white cloth around his neck like a scarf. His gaze was even, betraying no anger, fear or curiosity. He had stepped out because it was his duty, nothing more. "Are you the elder?" Raditz asked as he read his power level.

8000.

"I am the Elder's protector. My name is Nail."

"Raditz. I need to see the elder, I need to get the Dragon Balls."

"In order to see my father" the Namek spoke as he unclasped his hands. "You will have to fight me."

"What? Fight?" Raditz asked, curious the request, but itching for it at the same time. With a smile he answered. "Now you're talking! So if I prove myself by beating you I can go meet the elder? Nice! Let's do it then!"

"Not here" he spoke softly but firmly, his voice layered with ice as he rose in the air. The two of them flew a few hundred meters and landed on one of the larger islands. It had a small ring around it, almost as if nature itself had carved a battlefield out of the earth itself. There was nothing more beautiful than a natural fighting pit, Raditz thought.

"So how are we gonna do this? Is this to the death, no energy attacks, out of the ring loses or how do you do it?" he asked as he stretched his arms and legs.

"If you can hurt me, you can see my father."

"What? That's it?"

"That's it, feel free to strike at any time."

Watching him carefully, Raditz pressed his scouter's button and scanned him. His power level remained the same. To say something like that Raditz knew he had to be suppressing his true power, but how much? There was no way of knowing, he would have to play it by ear. The Namek had unclasped his hands and had raised them in a defensive position. With a quick dash, Raditz threw a quick jab, meant to be deflected. Instead of blocking it and revealing his speed and reflexes, something Raditz always preferred to know, the Namek took the blow straight to the face, not even flinching. His own hand hurt from punching his thick skull. Surprised, Raditz kicked his feet and tried to sweep him, but he encountered the same result, the Namek took both blows head on, not flinching or showing any reaction, only staring at him intensely.

"Just how much power are you hiding?"

"Enough. I am the strongest warrior of the Planet."

He should have felt some fear at the revelation, and old Raditz would have probably felt some, but he didn't. It seemed some Kakarot rubbed off him, because he only felt the desire to find out just how strong his enemy really was. He jumped back and closed his eyes, the Namek would not attack him. He spread his legs and began charging his energy, sending everything he had to his body. He wanted to fight, Raditz would give him a fight to remember.

He charged again, and this time the Namek blocked his jab. With a broad sweep, Raditz sent him towards the ground, but as he brought his hand down to strike his stomach, the Namek sent his hand forward and sent him flying back, rolling on the ground, until he hit his head against the rock ring. Standing up, Raditz charged, kicking and punching the Namek as fast as he could, but only a few hits went through his defense, and those that did had no effect other than tiring Raditz. A few more minutes into this and he began to tire quickly, breathing heavily as he tried to keep up with the stronger Namek. But Raditz didn't have to beat him, he only had to hurt him, so he jumped back and allowed his strength to return to him. His breathing slowed down and he began to think what could he do.

Nail was faster, and definitely stronger than him. The only thing he had going for himself was the fact that he just needed to land one punch, just one strong hit to be allowed entry. He didn't need to throw a barrage of punched and kicks, he just needed a single strong hit.

"Double Sunday!" he yelled as he threw two energy waves at the green man, rushing after them. The two waves headed straight towards him, but he jumped up and dodged them. Jumping off the ground, Raditz flew straight towards him and fired another blast. "Saturday Crush!"

The pink ball flew towards him, and Raditz feared he would dodge it again. Instead of dodging it, Nail stretched his hand and fired his own energy wave at him. The panic hit him like a bucket of cold water, and he barely managed to cross his arms over his face before the attack hit him. He stopped in mid air and allowed for the dust to settle. It had hurt, but it hadn't hurt him much. Before he could think what to do, the Namek landed a punch on his stomach that made him lurch forward, almost losing his balance. A powerful elbow sent him flying down to the ground, and he barely managed to arrange himself to land on his feet. His back felt like it was on fire, and with only two punches Raditz felt like he had been hit twenty times. He charged again, furious this time, only to be thrown back by a quick yet strong kick to his chin. The Namek fired another blast that hit his chest and sent him back down to the ground. He was about to stand up, but Nail jumped up and landed his feet on his ribs, crushing them with a single blow. He let out a scream of pain as he felt his armor weaken under the Namek's assault. He fired another blast that hit him straight in the face, and Nail removed his feet from his chest. He tried to stand up only to be kicked again in the side of the stomach. He flew a few meters away from him and using the last of his strength, Raditz threw his last energy ball towards him. The Namek did not flinch, he did not even blink as the ball hit him straight in the chest.

"Are you done?"

"What... What are you made off?" he asked him as he coughed up some blood and spat on the blue grass, the only thing on this damn planet that wasn't green.

"You are not strong enough to see the elder. Leave."

Nail began to rise in the air, his hands again clasped behind his back. The ball that hit his hands was pathetic, even for Raditz, it probably wouldn't have hurt Turnia if it had hit her. Nail turned around and looked at Raditz with the same even look on his face.

"I... I won't lose to you!" Raditz yelled as he tried to stand up. "I am a Saiyan warrior, the stronger my enemy is, the stronger I become! I... I have to hit you!"

Nail was faster than before, hitting Raditz' back harder than he had hit him before. He didn't even feel anything, he only saw how the blackness covered his eyes and they almost closed down.

"You are not strong enough. You are weak. Leave."

"NO!" he yelled, and the blackness was pushed back. He could see the Namek's orange boots, they had not moved, and he still stared at him with his even face. "You look just like him."

"Like who?"

"Like the Namek... like the Namek we want to revive. The one on Earth... Piccolo."

"What did you say?" Nail asked him, but Raditz didn't answer, he focused all his energy and his brain on pushing the ground with his arms and lifting himself from the ground.

"I won't lose to you... I can't lose" he coughed more blood as he tried to get up. The blue grass had been completely stained with red. "I won't be defeated... I... wont'... let her down... I won't..."

"Let who down?"

"What?"

"Who?"

"I... Myself, I'm a warrior, I don't give up. I have to fight, I have to hurt you, I will see the Elder! I will get the Dragon Balls!"

Nail stomped on his head and brought it crashing down, slowly applying pressure on it. Raditz clenched his fists in frustration as he tried to get out from under him, but Nail had hit pinned down.

"WHO?"

"Why do you care? My reasons are my own!"

"WHO?"

"None of your business!" he yelled as he felt fresh blood trickling from his forehead.

"ANSWER ME!"

"TURNIAAAA!"

00

Vegeta checked his scouter's reading, he was certain he had read two very large power levels, one of them even stronger than him, in this direction, but he had lost them after fifteen minutes of flight. The large Dragon Ball was difficult to carry comfortably and he found his patience growing thin. He decided to abandon those two and leave them for later, there was another village much more closer. Adjusting his flight path, Vegeta flew back to his space pod and dropped the Dragon Ball there. He carefully locked the door and flew straight towards the second village.

"I'll probably be able to collect most today" he chuckled to himself as he flew. "Immortality within my grasp! I can hardly believe it! Thank you Kakarot, you fool! Ha ha ha ha!"

_00_

_ Fun Facts!_

_ The burning sensation Kakarot felt in the previous chapter was not the heart virus actually, it was just the fact that he was exhausted from a simple run, the reason he ignored it was because he refused to believe that he could be tired after that (Saiyan Pride, isn't it a bitch?)._

_ Chapter 18 Into The Storm (Yes) on Raditz' arrival on Namek, and the fact that he's not the only Saiyan there._

_ Vegeta returns! And this time Freeza's not there to slow him down! What will happen to our hero without his trusty friends to back him up, can he take the mighty Saiyan prince by himself? Fight out, on the next chapter, of Dragon! Ball! Z!_

_I got the name Turnia from Turnip :p_


	19. Merciless Game

Chapter 19

Raditz stepped into the main room, where the monstrous Namek was waiting for him. He was massive, towering over the other Nameks. Instead of the pure green color of the other Nameks, he had dark green skin, and numerous wrinkles all over his body. Nail stood next to him, silently waiting for his father to speak.

"My son tells me you have passed his test, that you are not as... selfish as my other children thought."

"Your other children? You mean the Nameks in the village? I was being friendly to them! And how could they possibly know if I was selfish or not?"

"We Nameks can see your thoughts, we can sense your emotions and we can read your memories, although most of the younger ones are not very good at doing it. Nail told me of your fight, you put up a remarkable resistance, despite the fact you knew you could not win."

"I'm a warrior" he repeated for the tenth time today. "A Saiyan warrior, I don't know how it works for you Nameks but we don't give up, the stronger-"

"Your enemy is, the stronger you become" Nail interrupted him with the same even face but with a slight tone on his voice. Raditz shot him a dirty look and remained silent.

"I saw it too. Despite what you claim, that is not why you fought with such might. Tell me, who is Turnia?"

"What? You... She's my niece" he spat out.

"Please, young one, step forward, and let me see your thoughts."

"What? Why?"

"I can feel some evils thoughts within you, concentrated around a single person, but I can't sense everything, I need to see it for myself. If you wish to get the Dragon Balls, you will allow me to do so."

"I could just take them from you" he shot back, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That you could, with your new power you might even give Nail a challenge, but you do not know how to use them, only we Nameks know how to activate the Dragon Balls."

Gritting his teeth, Raditz took a step forward and allowed the giant Namek to rest his enormous hand on his head. His weight was massive, almost as much as Raditz himself, and he struggled to remain on his feet under the crushing weight.

"Are you done?"

"Yes" he answered, removing his hand. "An interesting live you have led, if violent. I wish I could say I was sorry for the destruction of your race, but I felt such evil inside you back then, you would have never been worthy of having the Dragon Balls if not for your brother and your stay on Earth."

"Wow, I thought you were bluffing" he said as he took a few steps back and leaned on the house's handmade wall. "So, can I have the Dragon Balls now?"

"Indeed you can. You can now travel to each of our villages and claim their Dragon Ball, once you have all six, return here and I shall give you the seventh."

"Alright, I'll be back soon" he yelled as he ran towards the door, only to be stopped by Nail. "What?"

"The Elder is not done" he said, and Raditz turned around.

"Young one, I can sense you have untapped power in you. The energy you posses is not the full measure of your strength."

"What do you mean, untapped power? I know my own strength, I know just how strong I am. I'm just not showing it to you right now, it's not untapped, it's hidden."

"You are wrong. By your machine's reading, before you fought Nail you had a power level of... what was the number again... 10000 I believe."

"Right."

"That is but a fraction of your true power. I can allow you to reach your true strength."

Raditz' knees shook and he almost fell down at the Elder's words. More power? Inside of him? A fraction of his strength? Unable to contain his happiness, he smiled and nodded at the Elder.

"And how can you do that? What do you want in return?"

"Releasing your strength will be a simple matter, what I want in return, will not be as simple."

"There's always a catch."

"You are not the only Saiyan in this planet."

"WHAT?"

"Another one, the one you call... Vegeta is here as well."

"Vegeta! But how?"

"I do not know, but I know he has attacked one of my villages, he is after the Dragon Balls as well."

"How did he find out? How is this possible?" Raditz angrily asked as he clenched his fists in anger. Vegeta's presence would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible to get the Dragon Balls. He had to inform Fasha of this, if he could hide one of them and hide, he could wait for them to arrive and then they would be able to finish Vegeta once and for all. But he couldn't, he remembered quickly. Fasha and Kakarot would not leave Turnia behind, and they could not bring her here, it was out of the question. He was alone.

"I will release your hidden power, and in return you must deal with him. Get him off my planet, Kill him, do whatever you deem necessary but do not allow him to damage my people any longer."

"Will I be strong enough? If you read my mind you know just how powerful Vegeta is."

"I do not know until I try. You became very powerful with your fight with Nail, if the same thing happened to Vegeta he will be much stronger also. But you must try, or you will not get the Dragon Balls."

"Fine, do it!"

The Elder again placed his gigantic hand on Raditz' head and began murmuring to himself. After a few seconds Raditz felt a surge of power inside of him that spread throughout his body, filling him with strength. His entire body shone as he struggled to contain his new power. He fell down to the ground and did his best to regulate his strength as his body groaned in pain. After a few seconds he managed to stand up and look at the Elder.

"You had less hidden power than I expected, but it should be enough" he told him as Raditz pressed his scouter's button and scanned himself.

19500.

Surprised at his new strength, Raditz grinned and chuckled as he pressed his scouter's reset button and cleaned the memory, if for some reason Vegeta got his hands on his scouter it would not do for him to know of the Elder's location. Vegeta. Raditz' mind wandered back to the Saiyan prince. Despite having almost doubled his power, he was still slightly weaker than Vegeta, and if he had powered up after their fight he must be even stronger now, he would not be able to defeat him.

"I can't stop him" he admitted sourly to the elder.

"If you want the Dragon Balls, if you want to save your race and return to your family, you have to stop him."

Raditz had always taken pride in the fact that he was a rational fighter, he calculated the fight and proceeded accordingly, and if he could not win, he would take a step back and try a different approach. He had always fought smart, he had never fought without knowing the odds.

But for the first time since he had learned how to throw a punch or a kick, Raditz knew he had no choice. The Elder wouldn't allow him to take the Dragon Ball, and he wouldn't tell him the password if he didn't do what he wanted. For a moment he felt like he was working for Freeza again, but the thought quickly dissipated. He had no choice. Nail did not stop him as he ran towards the door, flying off as soon as he exited the Elder's home. He flew as fast as he could, racing past the wide green ocean and above a long strip of blue land. His scouter quickly picked up Vegeta's reading.

25000.

Gritting his teeth, Raditz raced towards the Saiyan prince. He had to beat him, he had no choice. He was a Saiyan warrior, the stronger his enemy was, the stronger he became. Raditz was so focused on getting to Vegeta that he did not notice the flying figure behind him, flying effortlessly with hands clasped behind his back.

00

Kakarot caught Turnia as she stumbled and fell to the ground, stopping her before she hit her head. With a smile he placed her back up and his daughter slowly walked around the room, laughing cutely as she managed to walk from wall to wall.

He went to the gravity room's computer and checked the weight. It was currently set for ten times Earth's gravity, the same as they had kept Turnia a week after she had been born. Seeing how she was able to walk effortlessly, he pressed a few keys and turned it up to twelve times. His daughter stumbled and fell down to the ground, landing in a sitting position and laughing again. With effort, the small girl got up and began walking, slower this time, and never taking her hand off the rail on the wall. She headed for the bright red cubes and sat down, playing with them while Kakarot watched her.

He heard the door open and he turned his head to meet the newcomer. Fasha smiled at him and stood next to him as they watched their daughter throw the red cubes around the room. She threw one so hard that it shattered against the wall, and delighted with the sudden disappearance of the cube she grabbed another one and threw it harder, smashing into even more pieces than the first one.

"She's getting stronger" he noticed as he crossed his arms. Fasha grinned and crossed her arms as well.

"I guess we had some good genes after all."

"Yeah... getting her in the gravity room was a good idea as well."

"Yeah... I... received a communication from Raditz a few minutes ago."

"What did it say?"

"You won't believe it..."

"What?

Without a single shred of the smile she had painted on her face when she entered the room, Fasha looked at him.

"Vegeta's there."

"What? On Namek? How?"

"He doesn't know, but apparently Vegeta knows of the Dragon Balls. He's also collecting them... Raditz... Raditz says he's going to fight him."

"He'll get slaughtered! He can't fight him alone... I have to go!" Kakarot said as he began to run out the room. He stopped when Fasha's arm held him on his place. "We can't just abandon him!"

"He doesn't need us. We won't get there in time, at any rate. Raditz was on his way to fight Vegeta when he contacted me. He said he's stronger now. How I don't know, but he said he was going to kill him this time for sure."

"And you think he can?"

"Honestly?" she said as she looked down at the ground. "I don't think he can, but he said he was stronger than us now, that he was stronger than me, and he had a better shot at killing him than we do."

"He... Damn it!" Kakarot yelled as he punched the wall, almost breaking the reinforced wall. With barely controlled fury he pulled his fist back and took a few deep breaths. "What can we do, then?"

"Nothing... we can only hope he's right."

At the other side of the room, Turnia smashed the last cube and stood up, waddling around the room with a smile on her face.

00

Nail watched how Raditz got up from the ground and charged at the smaller Saiyan, who laughed as he dodged his attacks. With a scream of frustration, Raditz charged an energy attack on his hand and he shot it straight at the Saiyan. The attack sent him flying back into one of the houses, which crumbled as Vegeta flew through it, crashing against the hill on the other side. Raditz caught his breath for a few seconds and charged another attack, but a furious Vegeta crashed into him and sent him sprawling to the ground again.

_"Father."_

_ "Yes, Nail?"_

_ "You were wrong, the Saiyan went directly for Vegeta and fought him without hesitation. He fights a losing fight knowing it is his death."_

_ "Mmm... Interesting. How is the fight going?"_

_ "He is losing... badly. The Saiyan prince is much stronger than him. Should I aid him?"_

The Elder took his long time to reply, weighting his choices, they could wait until Raditz was dead, and that would ensure there would be no further threat to Namek, but he felt something about the Saiyan, buried under his pride, his anger, and his sarcasm was a layer of good inside of him. He could feel kindness, loyalty, honesty, even love hidden inside of him. And he did not deserve to die like this.

_"Aid him, Nail. I trust the stranger is no match for you?"_

_ "He might delay me for a few minutes, but he is no threat."_

_ "Good... good."_

And with that Nail flew down towards the destroyed village. Vegeta had Raditz by the throat, and the weaker Saiyan had his blue and white armor completely destroyed from the Saiyan's attacks. He threw a mocking glance at him as he approached him, mistaking him for some of the weaker warriors he had undoubtedly taken great pleasure in killing.

"You will put him down now" he spoke, and Vegeta laughed.

"Or what? Will you force me? Now you need this pathetic creatures to protect you, weakling?" he asked the beaten Saiyan. Raditz grunted and kicked Vegeta's stomach, but the attack was futile and the prince only laughed. "You are pathetic, Raditz."

"I will not repeat myself" Nail told him as he unclasped his hands and drew them forward.

"When I am through with this scum, I will take my time with you" Vegeta taunted him, before being stopped by the soft chuckles coming from the Saiyan he was holding by the neck.

"Get ready to have your royal ass handed to you, Vegeta" Raditz said before he was thrown to the side, crashing against several houses and landing on the blue grass, next to a very large lake. He would have fallen in had it not been for Nail, who swiftly flew to his side and picked him up. "Hey, it's the green man! Do me a favor and kick his ass, I'm just going to take 5" he mumbled as Nail gently set him on the ground.

"Don't move" he said as he walked towards Vegeta.

"Where am I gonna go? I wanna watch the show!" he said between coughs. With a sigh, Raditz adjusted his view and watched the Namek approach Vegeta. The battle was over before it had even begun. Vegeta punched Nail's stomach and kicked his neck before laying six punches on his face and kicking him with a somersault, sending the Namek flying up. He was about to knee him on the back and send him crashing back down when Nail twisted in mid air, grabbed Vegeta's hands and crushed them in his fists. He kneed Vegeta twice and threw him to the ground, leaving the Saiyan prince battered and crushed before in an imitation of how he had beaten Raditz, Nail landed on his chest, making Vegeta scream in pain just like he had. "Ah... Music to my ears."

Vegeta shot him an energy attack just like Raditz had, but this time the attack did hurt Nail, who stumbled back in surprise and slight pain. Vegeta took this opportunity to get up and charge his signature attack, shooting it at him before he had a chance to spot him.

The explosion was massive, Vegeta had placed a lot of energy in the attack despite the small charge time. Even Raditz felt the shockwave pass through his body. But as the dust cleared he saw Nail standing in front of him, unharmed. The Namek rushed towards him and began an assault that was so fast Raditz could barely keep up with what was happening, he saw him and Vegeta exchanging punches and kicks, then they disappeared and clashed again. For a moment they seemed evenly matched, until Vegeta began to tire and Nail began to put the pressure on, landing a few key blows on Vegeta's neck, face and stomach that left the Saiyan prince groaning and moaning in pain. With a brutal kick, Nail sent him crashing down against the ground, and Vegeta did not move anymore.

With the same even face, Nail walked towards Raditz, kneeling down to face him when he was close.

"I am no healer, but I can help you somewhat" he said as he grabbed Raditz' hand. He placed his palm on his and gave him some energy. A small amount, by Nail standards, but the surge was enough to give Raditz the boost he needed to stand up.

"Nice! Thanks, Finger!"

"Nail" the Namek corrected him.

"Right. Did you kill him? I can't read his power level."

"He is suppressing it, I did not kill him."

"What? Why not?"

"The Elder gave that job to _you_."

"You mean... Damn!" Raditz said as he scanned the area. "You should have killed him when you had the chance, Nail! He might call for help or something!"

"You are certain of this?"

"No but... I don't know! For starters he should not even be here! How did he find out about the Dragon Balls? It doesn't make sense!"

"You can ask him, when you find him" Nail said as he rose in the air.

"Wait! You're leaving?"

"I must return to the Elder, I cannot leave him alone for so long."

"But-"

"Vegeta is weak, and your power is returning, you will be able to fight him evenly now."

"Right... Fine, thanks for the help, I guess."

Nail nodded and flew back towards the Elder, not even breathing hard. The only way to tell that he had just fought was by the ragged cloth around his neck. Raditz was left alone, and he walked towards the village, hoping there was something to eat in one of the homes that hadn't been completely destroyed. He made sure he had completely hidden his power level and entered the nearest home. They consisted of a single room, with four beds on the left side, some sort of table in the center, and what looked like drawers on the right side, he began to open one by one only to find cups and farming tools. There was nothing in the entire house but cups and digging tools. The result was the same on the next two houses, but on the fourth, he heard a small noise as soon as he entered. He aimed his hand at the source of the noise, ready to blast off whatever had made it, but it had been a small child. His skin was bright green, he had big eyes that went along with his big head, and two small antennas on his head, just like the rest.

"Please don't kill me!" the child pleaded and he tried to hide under the bed.

"Hey, hey!" Raditz told his as he raised his hands up. "I'm not here to kill you. Didn't you see me fighting the other guy? The one that did want to kill you? I'm a hero, kid!"

"Oh... I thought you were dead" the child said as he got up.

"Me? Ha! I'm the invincible Raditz kid, nobody can beat me."

"The smaller man hit you very hard."

"Ah... Yeah, but I'm fine now, he wasn't that strong. It doesn't matter! Do you have any food?"

"Food?"

"Something to eat!"

"Ah, you mean like the grass the animals eat?"

"I, yeah, but not grass. Don't you have any meat or something?"

"We don't eat, we just drink water" the kid answered softly.

"So... so there's no food?"

"No, just water."

"You have NOTHING to eat? Nothing?"

"No, we only drink water every few hours, that's it.

"Ah son of a bitch I hate this Planet. Fine, you should get going twerp! That other guy might be around here somewhere."

"What? But, but, but" the child stammered.

"No buts! Get to the Elder's house, I sure that Nail guy will take care of you, he's strong enough."

"You know Nail? Wow, you really are a hero! I'll go right away!"

"Right" Raditz said as the kid ran outside and rose slowly into the air. Without a reason to be here, Raditz exited the house and began scanning the nearby area. A small power level popped up above him and he looked up to find the kid floating over the village, moving very, very slowly towards the Elder's house. Raditz watched him for a full minute before he grew exasperated with the boy's progress and rose up to meet him. "You're too slow! You'll take forever!"

"I can't fly very well!" the boy complained. "i just learned the other day."

"Damn it... fine, hold on" Raditz said as he grabbed the kid by the collar and took off, the kid screaming as they tore through the sky faster than he ever could have gone.

00

Vegeta waited until he was certain there was nobody around before finally emerging from the rubble, angrier than he had been in a long time. He dove into the green lake and began searching for the Dragon Ball he had hidden there. He found it after a few minutes, and he returned to his pod, locking the two of them together.

"Damn it! What is that miserable rat doing here?" Vegeta grumbled as he flew again, checking his scouter for more villages. He found none, and he deduced he was simply too far away for the scouter to pick up anything, the villages had to be on the other side of the planet then. He began to fly in that direction when something hit him, he could not take on both of them by himself, even if he managed to get twice as strong, taking both of them out would be extremely difficult, probably impossible. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Vegeta went back to his pod and sat next to it, resting while he thought about what to do. Numerous plans began to form on his mind, until he finally found a way to get what he wanted, and even faster than he had hoped. With a grin on his face, he turned on his scouter's communicator and sent an open message to Raditz. An open message that would undoubtedly be picked up by Freeza. "Raditz, I got four of the Dragon Balls! Bring the rest to point 8619419! We'll get our wishes granted soon!"

Chuckling softly, Vegeta made sure the door to his pod was closed and leaned back against it, making sure not to apply any pressure to his wounded side. Now he only had to wait one or two days and he would not only have disposed of Raditz, but he would be able to kill Freeza as well, all in one day. Feeling pretty good about himself, Vegeta closed his eyes and went to sleep.

00

The Elder had been very grateful when he brought the little Namek to him, he had been so grateful in fact, that he had healed him completely and told Nail to help him gather the Dragon Balls that Vegeta had not taken and warn the villagers to hide until the threat was over. The pair now flew quickly from village to village, quickly warning them and collecting their Dragon Balls. They usually gave Raditz a strange look he was quickly getting tired off, but Nail's quick reassurance allowed them to proceed quickly.

When the message came, he was so shocked he almost dropped the six star Dragon Ball, catching it in mid air. He stopped in mid air and hear the message again.

"Raditz, I got four of the Dragon Balls! Bring the rest to point 8619419! We'll get our wishes granted soon!"

He was silent as he played the message again, doing his best to understand what it meant. Why had Vegeta sent him that? Surely he knew he wouldn't answer, hell it made no sense. Vegeta couldn't have four Dragon Balls, he had attacked only two villages, and they only had three, and why had he sent it now? They weren't even in the same team anymore.

"NO!" he yelled as he realized what Vegeta had done.

"What is it?" Nail asked as he turned around, shifting his Dragon Balls on his hands to prevent the large spheres from falling.

"Vegeta! He called... he called Freeza!"

"Who?"

"FREEZA! Raditz yelled at him, barely containing his fury. "You should have killed him when you had the chance! Now we're dead, do you hear me? WE'RE DEAD!"


	20. Preparation For The Fest

Chapter 20

The message came early in the morning, when Fasha was feeding Turnia. The little Saiyan girl grabbed the tiny pieces of meat and bit them again and again with her tiny teeth while her mother watched her with a mischievous grin. She grabbed a large piece of meat and gave it her, laughing as the tiny baby did her best to fit the entire thing in her mouth, when she finally succeeded, she bit down hard and did her best to chew the hard piece of muscle, until finally, she grew tired of it and spat it out, begging her mother for more.

"You love meat, don't you little girl?" she said as she handed another small piece.

Her scouter's screen beeped and displayed an alert in the upper right corner, she had a new message. She quickly placed Turnia down on the ground and listened to it, shushing her once when she babbled something about her feet.

"Fasha, Kakarot!" Raditz' voice came through, extremely agitated and angry. Just like his regular self, so far there was nothing to worry about. "You have to get here! Things have gone to hell!" he reported. Again, nothing unexpected about that. Fasha rolled her eyes, what had he done? "I fought Vegeta and he retreated, I lost him! The bastard called for help! He called Freeza! Do you hear me? Freeza's on his way!"

Fasha slowly sat down on the floor and kept her gaze steady on the wall in front of her, not even Turnia walking towards her with her arms stretched was enough to snap her from her trance. Her daughter bumped into her and hugged her, but she didn't notice, she kept her eyes straight ahead. Freeza.

Without thinking she grabbed Turnia and ran outside the gravity room, taking her daughter outside for the first time this week and flying into the sky. Turnia laughed and yelled in delight as they rose into the air, as fast as Fasha dared to fly with her daughter in her arms. They found Kakarot training hard above the city, punching and kicking at the air as fast as he could with his weighted clothing. His bright orange gi hurt her eyes, but she ignored it and grabbed him hard from behind.

"Wha-"

"Freeza's heading for Namek! Vegeta called him!"

"But, but."

"Raditz will be killed if he's alone; you have to get there now!"

"What? Now I can go?"

"Now we have no choice, we need to get the Dragon Balls and get back here before Freeza arrives, if he arrives on Namek before we can get our wish granted things are going to go to hell!"

"When should I leave then?"

"Now!"

Flying as fast as they could, the Saiyan duo rushed back to Capsule Corp in matter of seconds, where they were greeted by an enthusiastic Bulma, whose smile quickly dissipated when they told her the news.

"I can't believe this" she muttered to herself. "The good news is that I have been working on your space pods and I made an outstanding discovery" she told them with a smile as she led them deeper into the building. "I managed to replicate the engine and apply it to one of our own ships with twice the power! They can now travel even faster! I was going to show it to you later this week when we finished painting it and everything, but I guess this is really important."

With as much dramatics as possible, Bulma combed her bright blue hair behind her ear and pulled back a large red curtain in the back of the room they were in. On the other side there was a very large spherical ship, similar to their own pods but more than ten times the size. It had a large entrance located in the center of it, and the bright blue Capsule Corp. logo on the side of the ship.

"When can I take off?"

"Today, if you really are desperate, which I guess you are. I just need a few hours to pack in food and other supplies."

"How long will the trip take?"

"Mmm, well let me see…" she said as she pulled a calculator and began punching numbers and muttering incoherently to herself. "About three days! Maybe a little less if I can slingshot you with a planet nearby… let's see… Yeah this would work. You would take about two days to reach Planet Namek, and you would land near… Mmm, very near the equator if I'm right."

"You can tell all that with just this little thing?" Fasha asked as she grabbed the tiny calculator, astounded.

"Yup, I could have done it by myself; I just wanted to make it faster" Bulma told her with a wink. "So, are you both going? You could leave Turnia here; she'll be safe here, right?"

"Leave her?" Fasha asked her, knowing it was the right thing to do if they wanted to win this, yet something holding her back. She knew that she should leave her daughter and fly towards Namek, her Saiyan brain told her that, but for some reason she felt connected with the little shrimp. Without letting her face betray what she felt, she handed Turnia to Bulma, who held her with a bright smile on her face. "I guess it's the only way, right?"

"Right" Kakarot assured her with a nod. "Don't worry, we'll get the Dragon Balls and get back here in an instant, once we have gotten them activated back on Earth we can return without worries."

"Right… Well then, I guess it's time to go."

"I'll head to the Lookout and get some Senzu beans; Korin must have some ready by now!" Kakarot yelled as he ran outside the building. His face betraying the excitement he felt inside of him. Fasha also felt much like him, the prospect of heading to Namek and fighting Vegeta and Freeza was too much for her to resist, but at the same time she felt a longing, like she would be leaving part of her behind when she traveled there. Turnia smiled at Bulma and pulled her blue hair, almost ripping it off with a single hand.

"Ouch!" Bulma complained as she removed the baby's hand from her hair. "Ok, first rule, if you're going to stay with me, no pulling auntie Bulma's hair, got it?"

Bulma walked away with her daughter, and Fasha felt completely alone inside the room, looking at the huge dome in front of her. It wouldn't take long. Everything would go according to plan, they would get the Dragon Balls, they would return to Earth, and Turnia would be waiting for them with a huge smile on her face.

00

Goku patted Yajirobe in the back as he took the large bag of Senzu beans.

"Just how many did you guys grow?"

"About ten" he mumbled as he chewed on his sandwich. "We can plant and take care of more now that there are two of us, you know."

"That's great, Yajirobe! You should have come here much sooner."

"Yeah, yeah. So are you really going to do this? This Freeza guy seems like a really nasty piece of work."

"Yeah" he answered, suddenly serious at the mention of his sworn enemy. "We can't let this opportunity slip away; if Freeza gets his hands on the Dragon Balls then it's all over. I won't let it happen."

"Mmm, and your kid?"

"Mmm? What about her?"

"You're just going to leave her here?"

"Bulma will take care of her" he defended himself as he walked towards the edge of the tower. "Besides, it's too dangerous to take her to Namek. No child of mine is going anywhere near Freeza, I won't let them."

"Right, well good lucky buddy!" Yajirobe said to him as he went back inside, having finished his sandwich already. Goku jumped out of the tower and soared over the village below, waving at the small boy laughing below. He waved back, but by that time Goku was already gone, blasting through the air.

00

Raditz held his breath as the Elder placed his hand on Nail's head, and the same white flash that had consumed Raditz engulfed the Namek.

"I don't feel _that _much stronger" he said as he clenched and relaxed his hands.

"Let's go outside, I can scan you there" he said as he exited the house. Nail followed and they both rose in the air. "Alright, go."

Nail began charging his power and Raditz' scouter beeped as it read the new power level.

30000.

34000.

39000.

Raditz gritted his teeth as the power radiating from the Namek rose to unimaginable levels. He had always considered Nameks to be an unworthy race, a race of healers and peace lovers. Completely unimportant to him, but recent events, such as Piccolo's sacrifice and Nail power, made him change his mind.

44000.

45000.

46000.

"The difference is not that large" he said in the same even tone as his power level went back down to 8000.

"No, but you're even stronger now, that little boost might be the difference between victory and defeat when fighting Vegeta and Freeza's little pets."

"You are certain they are that strong?"

"Without a doubt" Raditz answered, with none of his usual attitude, which astounded even Nail. "That's why I have to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"You saw how strong we become after we come back from the brink of death, our power level rises considerably."

"Yes, you've mentioned that quite a few times" Nail answered.

"Hurt me, hit me as you did the first time, leave me in the brink of death, beat me to a pulp like you did before and then have the elder heal me, I'll become much stronger in a very short time. It's the only way we'll stand a chance against Freeza."

"Are you certain?"

"Yes, but let's go back to the Elder's house! I don't want to die on the way there" he said before Nail got any bright ideas.

"Very well" the Namek said, and he floated back inside. Raditz followed him as his mind remembered what he had seen on his computer. Freeza had already intercepted Vegeta's transmission, just like the bastard had planned, and he was on his way here. Fasha and Kakarot had gotten his own message and they were on their way. He only hoped they hadn't been stupid enough to bring Turnia with them. Kakarot might, but Fasha would never left him, no they probably left her on Earth. Probably…

It would be close, Kakarot and Fasha would arrive half an hour later than Freeza himself, and they would arrive on the other side of the Planet, giving them enough time to regroup and find a way to get all the Dragon Balls, get their wish granted and get back to Earth in time for dinner.

"Do it" Raditz told him as he closed his eyes. It took less than a second, the Namek didn't hesitate, he would grant him that. His hand ripped through his chest like a bullet and left it just as quickly. Blood spurted from his chest wound and Raditz fell down on his knees, spitting and coughing blood and he struggled to get back on his feet. The gaping wound opened wider and he let out a scream of pain as he tried to clutch the open wound, grabbing the tender flesh instead, sending an extra flash of pain to his brain. Nail grabbed him and carried him next to the Elder, who was about to place his hand on Raditz' wound before he stopped him. "Wait! Wait until… until I'm weaker… It'll… better" he coughed up another large amount of blood that fell on his armor and stained it. Bulma would get mad at him, he thought. Just when he was about to pass out, he managed to raise his hand and lift his thumb, and the Elder laid his hand on him.

In a matter of seconds Raditz' wound healed, and the blood stopped spurting from his mouth. He felt how his strength returned to him. Soon the Elder removed his hand and he dared to open his eyes. His gaping wound was gone, replaced by fresh tissue and muscle. It still felt a little tender, but it was solid enough, just like he had been before taking the blow. Grinning, Raditz got up and flew outside, remembering to thank the Elder just before he exited. He began raising his power until he was able to see his own white aura. He checked his power level as his muscles began to burn.

24000.

He pushed himself even farther and felt how his muscles hardened and became slightly larger under the pressure of the energy. He exploded in a white flash as he reached his peak, and his body began to get used to the pressure.

29000.

Even stronger than Vegeta now, he thought before he stopped himself. Vegeta probably suffered from the Zenkai as well; at best he was still slightly stronger than him. At worst… He turned around and met Nail staring at him intently.

"You are an interesting race, but I worry about your lust for power."

"Worry all you like, I just want to kill Freeza" he told him as he headed inside the Elder's home. Raditz piled all five Dragon Balls into a neat group and took out the mock ones. "So" he asked the Elder. "We take these, place them where the originals had been and when they collect them all they turn to stone? Is that it?"

"Yes, a simple, yet effective security measure against thievery. With this you should gain the time you need to get the other two Dragon Balls."

"All right then, I guess we should get going" Raditz told Nail as he grabbed two Dragon Balls, walking out the door, doing his best to ignore the rumbling on his stomach.

00

Kakarot breathed heavily as he ran around the room again and again. His muscles felt like they were on fire but still he kept running, slowly gaining speed in the heavier gravity. At sixty times the Earth's gravity, Kakarot and Fasha had had a hard time training on it, but once they began getting used to it, they're progress was remarkable. Both Saiyans had now gotten used to the heavier weight, and they now moved as freely as they did back on Earth.

Thanks to the speed in which they traveled, faster than light they had three days to train, despite the fact that it took them only two days to get to Namek. Still the Saiyans wondered if it would be enough to stand up against Freeza, and both of them secretly found themselves wishing to be back on Earth with their daughter, watching her smile as she walked and stumbled around the room.

00

Raditz slept soundly in the Elder's home, sitting against one of the white walls, snoring loudly. Outside, Nail had split into two and had been training non stop for the past twelve hours, raising his already impressive power level as high as he could before Freeza arrived.

Raditz awoke and lazily stretched his arms and legs, greeting the elder with a groan as he walked outside, blinking the laziness away from his eyes.

"Hey! Stop training! You need to rest and be at full strength when they arrive!" Raditz roughly told the two Nameks, who looked at him once and stopped fighting. The two Nails floated to each other and pressed together, slowly merging into a single being until only one of them remained. Raditz thought it was gross, but if he could become stronger doing that then he would take it. "Freeza should arrive in twelve hours, we need to rest, eat up and make sure we're ready for them!"

"I thought your plan consisted on hiding until your friends arrived" Nail spoke with a tiny smile on his face, the first since Raditz had met him.

"I don't plan on simply hiding! We're going to hide and attack them when they least expect it, I want to keep them busy and on their toes while they search for the Dragon Balls."

"You want them to believe the Namekian people are stronger than they really are, you want to sacrifice my people in order to defeat your enemy."

"Perhaps" Raditz answered, not evading the accusation at all. "But their sacrifices are necessary, besides you can revive them with the Dragon Balls later! But if Freeza takes over and kills you all, you'll have a hard time reviving people, won't you?"

"You have a point. When did you say they will arrive?"

"My scouter picked them up a few hours ago. They'll be here in 11 hours... they're arriving an hour earlier... Damn machines."

"So your friends will arrive two hours after Freeza and his men arrive."

"Two and a half... We'll have to hold them off during that time. I've been thinking about it and came up with a genius plan. Every single one of Freeza's soldiers will have a scouter with them. We have to make sure they don't send any transmissions when we strike, so destroy the scouters first. They can pick up our power levels, but that doesn't matter, when they split up, we'll destroy two groups completely. We'll take two of the farthest groups, one each."

"The others will rush to find out what happened."

"Ah, but they won't" Raditz told him with a smirk as they walked around the Elder's house. "Freeza doesn't care about his men, not in the least, and that is why he will prefer to secure the Dragon Balls before actually going to find out what happened. That'll give us enough time to destroy them and hide again. You only have to watch out for one guy. His name is Zarbon. He is Freeza's right hand man. He has turquoise skin, he's very tall, blue long hair, a pretty boy type. If you do fight him, make sure to kill him before he can transform. I have never seen him, but I heard that when he does, his power level rises, a lot."

"So if I find this Zarbon" Nail said, keeping his eyes straight. "I should kill him first, and then proceed to destroy the remaining troops."

"Yes, and the good thing is that you're a Namek, they can see you and they can even send Freeza a report about you, but it doesn't matter, I'm the one that needs to remain hidden from them."

"Very well. I will aid you in the initial assault" Nail spoke, turning to face Raditz. "But after that I must return here. The Elder is my top priority."

"I just need to stall them, after that they'll take their sweet time gathering the fake Dragon Balls, and by then Kakarot and Fasha will have arrived, we can then use the Dragon Balls and take everybody back to Earth and everybody wins!"

"You would have us leave our planet behind? In the hands of this... tyrant?"

"You have no choice" Raditz told him as he entered the house, speaking over his shoulder as he walked back to his resting spot. "Either you leave or you die here. At least you'll be able to return to it once Freeza has been dealt with, we don't have a planet to return to anymore."

"He is right, Nail" The Elder spoke, and Nail's gaze returned to his father right away. "We cannot save our home, not yet. But we can retake it at a later time. Earth seems like a beautiful planet, I am certain you will enjoy it when we get there."

"Yes ,father" Nail spoke in the same even tone. "And of this Vegeta?"

"What of him? He needs to hide from Freeza even more than we do. He won't dare to make his move while Freeza is actively looking for the Dragon Balls."

"What do you think is his plan? He is playing with powers that great shadow his own, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but Vegeta has more pride than brains, he probably thinks he can trick Freeza. He knows they can't make their wish because he has two Dragon Balls, so he'll probably wait until they have collected the five that remain before he makes his move... What a surprise it'll be for him when he finds an extra pair" Raditz said as he sat down comfortably. "Freeza might just end up killing him for us."

"But then Freeza would have the Dragon Balls for himself, and if he is as strong as you say we won't be able to take them from him."

"You're such a downer, you know that? Besides, that's when Kakarot and Fasha come in" he answered with a grin.

00

Vegeta's scouter beeped and he woke up right away, kicking away the carcass of his recent lunch. He threw a look inside his pod and made sure the two Dragon Balls were still there before looking at his scouter's screen. He grinned.

"So it begins."

00

"Sir, we have arrived."

"Deploy the men, I want those Dragon Balls found immediately" the smooth, aristocratic voice ordered from the shadows.

"Right away, my Lord."

The commander left to carry out his orders, and Freeza remained alone on the bridge, watching the green water with an evil grin on his face.

"I have to remember to thank you, Vegeta. If not for your betrayal and stupidity I never would have known there was such treasure on this planet. I'll be sure to reward you properly... and painfully."

The dark room was filled with an evil laughter that echoed in the halls of the almost empty ship, as the tyrant's tail twitched and snapped at the air in delight.

00

Kakarot held Fasha on his arms as the two of them rested on one of the spaceship's bed. He stroked her stubborn hair as she rubbed her back, both of them deep in thought. While their Saiyan blood boiled at the expectation of the upcoming fight, their minds wandered back to the treasure they had left back on Earth, and of the enemy they would face here, after so long. After 18 long years, Saiyans and Freeza would clash one more time, and this time... it was personal.

00

And as the Saiyan duo approached the planet, Freeza and his men landed on it, ready to steal the Dragon Balls and win the Dragon's unlimited power for themselves. Vegeta patiently waited on his hiding place, like a cobra calculating the perfect moment to strike at his enemies. Raditz and Nail split up and each prepared for the attack that would start the war on Namek. Kakarot and Fasha prepared and armed themselves for the unavoidable conflict that was to come. And as the players arrived on the playing field, Namek held it's collective breath, and awaited the inevitable clash that would rock their world, and determine the fate of them all.

_00_

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 19 Merciless Game (Running Wild) on Vegeta's plan._

_ Chapter 20 Preparation For The Fest (Feeble Minded) on the preparations for the Warfest! While he may not show it yet, Raditz is the one that is most excited about this!_

_ So I got like a billion (1562) visitors this month! I can't believe it! Thank you so much guys, I really appreciate your messages and reviews, I'm really glad you guys like the story! Pura Vida gente!_

_ In the anime, Kakarot's power level when he reaches Namek is around 180000 when he uses the Kaio Ken, in my story is going to be significantly less because he never trained with King Kai and he had less days to train, so our heroes are kinda fucked._

_ The enemy has numbers and power on their side, Kakarot and co. Better come up with something soon, or Freeza might just get his wish granted!_

_ If you thought things were intense before, get ready, because the real war is about to begin!_


	21. Running From The Devil

Chapter 21

Fasha quickly activated the built-in computer and scanned the planet. With the combined processing power of two space pods, it was enough to read any anomalies and strange energy signatures, and easily detect where Vegeta's space pod was. The Saiyan duo raced to the location, keeping their energy as low as possible in order to avoid being detected. They raced through the blue grass, jumping above the large gaps between islands, flying through the small uneven stretches of land, and running when they could, hoping they would reach Vegeta's pod before Freeza or his men found it.

00

"We found it, sir!" One of his men yelled, and with a satisfied smile, Dodoria picked up the large Dragon Ball. It was a bright yellow color, with two reddish stars in the center. He grabbed it with both hands and ordered his men to follow him, and the five soldiers flew back to Freeza. He didn't know if this magical wishing thing would actually work, but if it kept the boss in a good mood then it was alright in his book.

00

Zarbon searched the area with his scouter, but any living being that had been in the area had left it just as quickly as it had appeared. A stray Namek most likely, it was only a power level of 4000, nothing to be worried about.

"Sir!" One of his soldiers reported. "The village was attacked before we got here, I checked, no other team is supposed to be in this area!"

"Then it was either Vegeta or Raditz who attacked this village, there is no other explanation. We keep moving, comb this stretch of land, if there is a single living Namek, I want him taken and brought to me. Make sure you don't kill him!"

"Yes, sir!"

00

Raditz waited patiently until the seven soldiers passed his hiding spot. Six grunts and an unknown commander, all of them with power levels below 10000. Grinning, he rose in the air and waited until they had spread out on the village. He charged a small, but compact energy ball on each hand and allowed for the seven fools to gather again to discuss the results of their search. Only a single Namekian warrior had remained behind in the village, just like he had suggested, and they threw him in the center of the village, all of them aiming their hand cannons at him. One of the smarter ones looked up and spotted him, but by that time it was too late.

"Here's a little present, you idiots!" He yelled as he threw the small energy ball on his right hand. The ball split into three and crashed against three of the grunts, killing them before they could scream. He did the same thing with his left hand and killed the remaining three soldiers. Their commander, thankfully, was a coward, and instead of doing his duty and contacting Freeza, he tried to run away in panic.

With a grin, Raditz flew towards him, held him in place with his legs and grabbed his head with his hands. "Hurry up and die for nothing!" he yelled as he snapped his neck. Chuckling softly, the Saiyan shot like a bullet in the direction where Fasha and Kakarot had arrived, leaving the village long before Freeza's men arrived to check on the missing team.

00

"We have encountered very little resistance, only one team has been lost. A single Namekian warrior was almost dead among them" Zarbon reported coolly. "He admitted to killing them when we interrogated him, but refused to give us any information regarding the Dragon Balls or the remaining villages."

Freeza was silent, looking at his four Dragon Balls in awe. It wouldn't be long now.

"I don't want to leave anything to chance. Make the scout parties larger, have no man go off alone, and make sure they report anything unusual right away."

"Yes, my lord."

00

"Fasha, Kakarot!"

"We're here!" Kakarot answered, making sure he did not drop the Dragon Ball he had on his hand. "Where are you?"

"Hiding, Freeza's men are looking for me" Raditz answered in a soft voice. "Did you get the Dragon Balls?"

"Yes, but Vegeta's nowhere to be found!"

"Doesn't matter! Get to point 8829401! The remaining Dragon Balls are there! While you're there, make sure to tell the Elder that you're my friends, he'll then make you stronger, just like he did me!"

"Stronger?" Fasha asked as she adjusted the large sphere in her hands. "How?"

"Too long, can't explain" he almost whispered. "I'll meet up with you guys!"

00

Bulma checked the screen again while Doctor Rin whispered to himself in amazement. She could read almost everything related to engineering, physics and chemistry, but biology and anatomy was definitely not her area of expertize.

"Amazing" he said for the seventh time.

Bulma switched Turnia to her left hand and turned around.

"What is?"

"This child... she does not grow like humans do! It actually makes sense, considering she's an alien, but it's still fascinating!"

"What do you mean, she doesn't grow like humans do?"

"Turnia" the doctor said, and the baby turned to him. "Do you remember me?" She nodded. "Do you know my name?" She nodded again. "Can you say my name?" She shook her head.

"How can she understand you?"

"That's because her brain is almost fully developed! The only reason she isn't speaking, walking perfectly and running right now is because her body is not ready, but her brain already is!"

"You mean-"

"Her memory probably started working and gathering information after her first few hours of life" Doctor Rin kept talking to himself as he walked away, furiously writing on his notepad, leaving Bulma and the little Saiyan alone.

"Wow, that's amazing. You Saiyans are really something, aren't you" Bulma asked, and Turnia nodded with a smile, laughing at her. "Hey, don't mock me!"

00

Vegeta followed the pair's movements with his scouter, taking careful note where they were taking the Dragon Balls. It had been a stroke of luck, finding out Raditz' plan. It seemed his enemies sloppiness would be their downfall. If only Freeza was this stupid.

"The universe would be mine already" he thought out loud as he sat down on the ground and placed the Dragon Ball next to him. "Where are you two going? Freeza's not there... nobody's there... Raditz must have hid the other Dragon Balls where they're going... Won't you two be surprised when you find out one Dragon Ball's not real" Vegeta laughed as he rolled the five star Dragon Ball with his right hand.

00

"We have reached the seven villages, my lord. But we are still missing one Dragon Ball, the one with five stars. We have our men currently searching the entire planet, with our current forces it should take no more than two days."

"Any other losses?"

"Yes... sir" Zarbon answered grimly. "We lost Dodoria and his team."

"Dodoria? Were the Nameks too much of a challenge for him? I was under the impression that the strongest power level we detected was of 14000? Certainly not enough to kill Dodoria and his men."

"Ah, we have discovered that the Nameks can raise and lower their power levels at will. I... I detected a power spike of 45000 before it disappeared completely, my lord and another one of 32000 before that one. The two beings that posses those power levels must be the strongest in this planet, but they have not resurfaced since. This happened... six hours ago, Lord Freeza."

"Interesting turn of events" Freeza simply said as he held one Dragon Ball on his hand, turning it and looking at it with a child-like fascination. "I want absolutely no chance taken with this, call the Ginyu Force."

"My lord? Is that truly necessary? We can deal with these natives ourselves!" Zarbon protested as vehemently as one might dare with the Emperor of the Galaxy.

"Are you questioning me, Zarbon?"

"No, my lord! I will call them at once" he hastily answered bowing down to Freeza and retreating as quickly as he dared without being disrespectful. His long hair flowed behind him as he ran to the comm room, impatiently pushing a few soldiers out of his way. If Freeza said now, it was now.

00

Raditz breathed heavily as he ran through the large plains, stopping to hide between a pair of large rocks that would provide cover from his pursuers. The trio passed above him and he ran back and jumped into the water at the same time they turned around to look for him. Cursing them, he swam deeper and deeper, hoping they would wait for a few more seconds before they started blasting the water. No such luck, the first attack came almost as soon as he started swimming, he raised his power level up to 3000 thousand and kept swimming, when he was deep enough, he turned around and waited until they charged a specially powerful attack. The three aliens aimed their hand cannons at the ocean, exactly where he was and fired, bracing himself, Raditz allowed the energy attack to hit him, raising his power level the instant there was contact and lowering the second later. The tactic worked, and the three aliens laughed before shooting off back towards Freeza. He gave them a few seconds before he could his breath no longer, and he swam up, taking a huge breath as he broke the surface of the water.

Breathing heavily, Raditz got out of the water and took off his broken armor, throwing the useless white armor to the water. The thing sunk quickly, making sure it would not be found. He stretched his shoulder blades and looked down, his black bodysuit might not be the best outfit he had ever worn, what with the weird legs and all, but it didn't matter, it would do until he could get back to the Elder and have him do his weird magic thing.

"Off to base, then" Raditz said to himself as he began running through what would have been the country side back on Earth. He paused for a moment, since did he thought about Earth? Weird. Ignoring the strange thought for the time being, Raditz kept running until he deemed he was far away enough to allow himself to fly again.

00

Fasha couldn't help but grin as she felt the raw power that surged through her body, almost too high for her to sustain, but she somehow managed to bring it under control. She looked at Kakarot, who was staring at her, mouth gaping wide.

"How high was it?"

"I can't believe it... 52000!"

"No way... are you kidding me?"

"No... Raditz was right! I can't believe this!"

The enormous Namek pointed his finger at Kakarot, who rushed forward in an instant. Without a word, the Elder placed his hand on Kakarot's head, pushing down his spiky hair. A few seconds passed and Kakarot's blue aura exploded outwards, making Fasha cover her eyes. It had been even larger than her own, and she quickly pressed the scan button.

49000.

Unable to believe it, Fasha scanned Kakarot again, and the sudden surge was so high her scouter exploded with the violence in which Kakarot's power level rose. Everybody in the room froze as Kakarot's scream filled the room with his might. She saw his muscles bulge out as the raw energy passed through them and how his teeth chattered with effort of keeping it under control. The spire began to shake and she feared the house would collapse on them. For as long as Kakarot kept screaming, she forgot about Freeza, about the Dragon Balls and about Vegeta, she was only able to process the scenario occurring in front of her. She was not as good as the earthlings had been when it came to reading and detecting power levels, but she could feel Kakarot's power, at least six times higher than it had been when they were training in the spaceship, and it kept rising. His aura exploded in a wild unbuckled blue storm and the thick purple glass of the Elder's home shattered by the burst.

"STOP IT!" Kakarot yelled after eight seconds had passed, and the Elder removed his hand. Exhausted, Kakarot fell down on his knee and did his best to rise up again, taking several deep breaths as he struggled to maintain himself awake. "How long... where you going... to keep going?"

"Until you told me to stop" The Elder answered honestly. "You have so much more power inside of you, young one. I can continue releasing it if you wish, but in order to avoid causing you more pain, I can do it gradually."

"Yeah, please do that!" Kakarot answered as he gave up trying to stand and sat down next to the Elder, breathing heavily and doing his best not to move his aching muscles. "I thought I was gonna die!"

"Kakarot?" she softly asked him, sounding almost scared of him. "How high is your power level?"

With a soft 'oh', Kakarot pressed his scouter's button and gave it a few seconds to read him, this time the machine did not explode because it was given enough time to process the power level, but Kakarot's eyes did as he read the number displayed.

"92500!" he yelled out loud, clutching his chest in pain as the effort of screaming hurt him. "I can't believe it... I can't believe it!"

00

Outside, Vegeta grabbed his scouter and with a furious snarl he destroyed into a million pieces, his face twisted in rage and horror.

"IT'S OVER 90000!" he yelled as he pounded the ground with his fists, screaming in anger.

00

Fasha made sure the senzu beans were in her armor pocket for the ninth time as she arranged the Dragon Balls in the correct order. She and Raditz stood lookout while the small green Namek said some words in their native language. By what she knew, the sky would turn black, clouds would form in the sky above and thunder would crash down on the planet as the dragon made his appearance, but nothing happened. After a few seconds, she turned around and looked at the Dragon Balls, at the sky and at the Namek kid, silently demanding answers. To her surprise it was not the children that gave them.

"Damn it!" Raditz cursed as he walked towards the Dragon Balls, looking at each of them carefully. "I think I know what the problem is."

And with that, he grabbed the five star Dragon Ball, threw it into the air and fired an energy blast at it, the yellow attack hit the yellow ball, and it exploded into a billion pieces. The tiny shards fell down on them, and the children took a few steps back in fear, partly about the fact that he had just watched one of his people's most beloved artifact destroyed by a stranger, but also because the tiny rock shards looked very sharp.

"Why did you do that?" she asked him, extremely confused.

"Cause that wasn't a real Dragon Ball! You took them both from Vegeta's pod, right?"

"Yes!"

"Clever son of a bitch" Raditz muttered under his breath. "He switched one of them! The One Star Ball is real alright, but the five stars was a fake!"

"Fake?"

"The Elder gave me seven fake Dragon Balls to put in the villages that had not been attacked yet, and to hide them in the villages that Vegeta had destroyed. I don't know how that idiot keeps finding out our plans but I am getting truly sick of it!"

"We need to stop using our scouters" Fasha told him, and with a grim look, Raditz nodded.

"Yeah. How are we going to communicate then?"

"I don't know, but we can't risk Vegeta listening in on our conversations, there's too much at stake!"

With a sigh, Raditz crushed the scouter and threw the pieces aside on the ground. Fasha in response placed her hands on her hips, leaned all her weight on her left leg, raised her left eyebrow and looked at him with a what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you look.

"What?"

"I didn't mean destroy it, you know how hard it is to make them?"

"We have a spare one on Earth don't we? Have Bulma make one!"

"Oh, and since when do you remember her name? I thought she was the 'blue girl' wasn't she?" Fasha asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrow even more.

"What? Shut up! Now is not the time to talk about that!" he angrily yelled at her before he grabbed two Dragon Balls and took off.

"Right" she muttered as she took two more and flew after him. With the corner of her eye she saw the green children take one Dragon Ball each and they followed her. Feeling somewhat uneasy about having two children so exposed like that, she allowed them to fly in front of her. It took longer, but they were safer that way.

00

Freeza made a mental note of the large amount of power levels that had popped up in the last five minutes or so. He had detected a power level of 29000, a few minutes later, another of 52000, then another of 92000, and a minute later, another power level of 33000. All of them away from where his men were supposed to be. He placed the Dragon Ball carefully on the ground and sat on his throne, looking at the horizon. A power level of 92000 was not supposed to exist on this planet. Not even most members of the Ginyu force were that strong, and they were the best mercenaries he knew.

"I made the right call, it seems" he whispered to himself as he lowered his throne and closed his eyes, sending a short encrypted message to a very secret, very important location. He then send another message to Zarbon, this one with the least amount of security possible, it did not matter if his enemy found out after all. "Recall the men, Zarbon. We make our next move until after the Ginyu Force has arrived."

The reply came immediately. Zarbon did not sound happy or pleased, but he knew when it was best to not say a single word. His mood changed very quickly, and it was best to not be around him when he was in a bad mood.

00

Vegeta sat down, thinking hard about what to do. How could he take the Dragon Balls away from them? They knew he had the last one, they would wait until he made a mistake, until he slipped and gave away his position. Freeza thought he had all the Dragon Balls except one, but now that he knew about their strength what would he do? Would he take care of them himself? That was the best case scenario, but Vegeta doubted the lazy tyrant would bother. His mind worked hard as he thought about what to do, and then he realized there was only one course of action.

"Now we play the waiting game" he mumbled to himself as he went back to his hiding place.

_00_

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 21 Running From The Devil (Doro) on the entire ordeal, they're all running and hiding from Freeza.(Running out of song titles! :s )_

_ I was forced to include the Vegeta scene since a couple of you wanted it XD._

_ How do you like the fast paced, scene changing thing?_


	22. Crazy Like A Fox

Chapter 22

Bulma stretched her arms and yawned loudly as she got up from her bed, combing her very long blue hair behind her ear.

"Hey there, girly" she greeting the little baby Saiyan, that was awake and staring at the ceiling with great interest, looking at the tiny cracks and marks on it. "Whatcha looking at?"

She moaned once and turned over, sucking her thumb softly. She hadn't had a good night sleep. Ever since Kakarot and Fasha had left her, she had been very calm, not displaying any of her usual energy. She still ate like she used to, and Doctor Rin had said everything was fine with her, but that didn't mean Bulma wasn't worried.

She quickly entered the bath and took a quick shower, finishing with a few seconds of freezing cold water to make sure she lost every last trace of tiredness from her face.

She was about to grab her towel when a small earthquake shook the building, making her lose her balance and fall down, hitting her shoulder on the cold floor.

"Warning! Warning" The calm female voice came over the intercom system, and Bulma heard Turnia crying on the room. Cursing under her breath she got up and wrapped herself in her towel, taking special care to dry her feet, it wouldn't do if she fell down again. "Unidentified object detected!. Warning! Warning! Unidentified object detected!"

"What the hell? Calm down, Turnia, everything's fine now" she told the baby as she turned off the alarm in her room, and the little baby calmed down somewhat, wrapping the thick blanket around herself and trying to go back to sleep. "What was that?"

Checking the computer in her room, she accessed the emergency reports and pulled up the most recent. Her father had already read it; no doubt he had ignored it again. She began reading, feeling more and more confused the more she read.

"Honey?" her father's voice came outside the room. "When you have a moment, come help me with the new space ship, I'm having a little trouble with it."

"Are you insane? What about the report? Why haven't you done anything about it? What the hell just happened?"

"That? Oh it was just a tremor honey. I know they frighten you but no need to get nervous, it's over now" he said as he left the room as if nothing had happened.

"Earthquakes don't scare me!" Bulma yelled as she locked her door and went back to her computer. "Let's see... I don't recognize these dimensions... What the hell is that?" Biting her thumb, she compared the object that had caused the tremor against all known ship sizes and shapes, and against all satellites and any other flying object they had on their database, but nothing came up. "Mmm... it landed not very far away... Alright... Mmm... What is that thing?"

00

He watched the screen with a surprised look on his face, while his men mumbled on their own.

"Earth is the perfect place! I can't believe that such a planet even exists! Look at it!"

"I don't think I've ever seen so many forests, mountains, lakes, oceans and deserts in the same planet at once! Just think of the results! The planet is brimming with life!"

"Interesting... Earth is indeed the perfect place."

"How long will it take us to get there?"

"If we leave now... about a week maybe a little more"

"I can't believe it! This is perfect!"

"Indeed... Kakarot was deployed to Earth, I'm certain of it... I thought he would have destroyed it by now... What a stroke of luck we have encountered, men. We head to Earth immediately... How many do we have left?" He asked, there was no need to specify what he was talking about, they all knew.

"Three more, sir. I was worried we wouldn't find a suitable planet for them before they spoiled, but now there's no need to worry!"

"Right... Very well, men. We head to Earth right away, and the second we land on it I want you to move. I don't know why Kakarot has not destroyed Earth yet, but this sounds a bit too good to be true, I want no mistakes, got it?"

"Yes, sir!" the unanimous response came, and with large grins, the five of them walked to their respective stations and began making the necessary changes to their flight path.

"Earth... What happened, Kakarot? Mmm... It doesn't matter. I should thank you for your foolishness; it is thanks to you we will become the ultimate power in the universe... Who knows, I just might let you have a tiny bite of it out of gratitude. He, he, he, he, he."

With happiness and excitement he had not felt in years since the destruction of Planet Vegeta, Turles stood up and walked towards the captain's room, laughing softly at his own good fortune all the way there.

00

Kakarot sat down on the ground, cross-legged with eyes closed, patiently waiting. At least as patiently as a Saiyan could wait, after the first ten minutes he was restless and if got worse as the hours passed by, as the days rolled past, his hands tapped on his knees relentlessly, his eyes moved from side to side, looking at different parts of the walls and at the tall, broad Namek that looked remarkably like Piccolo, his mouth opened and closed as his tongue passed through his lips, he swallowed again and again and waited, and waited. How long had it been? Two days? Three days? All this time Fasha had not returned and neither had Raditz. The Namek left and returned, never saying a single word. His mind worked furiously wondering what could have happened.

00

She had to admit, Raditz had found a pretty decent hiding place. They placed all six Dragon Balls in the hole they had dug and covered them quickly. In the darkness of the cave, it was barely visible where they had hidden them.

"So how did you find this place?"

"By complete, utter and total chance. I was hiding from Freeza's men, buying time and stalling them without actually killing them when I stumbled into this place. It was a good enough place to hide so I did. When they were gone I began exploring this place and realized it was deeper than I thought. Good enough to catch some shut eye."

"Nice" she said as she sat down. "We should lay low here for the next few days."

"I still don't know why we can't simply kill Zarbon."

"Because Freeza will only believe this facade of powerful Nameks for so long. If we kill Zarbon he will come out himself to either find the Namek that was strong enough to kill his strongest lieutenant, or to lead the search for the Dragon Balls himself. Let Zarbon run around to his heart's content, we cannot risk Freeza making his move against us."

"Fine, fine" Raditz gave up, laying down on the floor. "How's Turnia?"

"She was fine when I left her."

"Is she strong?"

"Stronger than any of us were... She's going to grow up to be a truly powerful warrior."

"Good... good" he muttered before he started snoring loudly.

Fasha rested her back against the cold hard wall and wished for the millionth time today, that Raditz had not destroyed their scouter. She longed for Kakarot's voice; she wanted to hear him, to speak to him, not only to find out how much power he had now. Her skin crawled as she remembered the feeling Kakarot had given her when he exploded in power, her body temperature had risen like mad, she began to lust after him again, not like on Earth, when she had allowed her feelings to get the better of her, not this time it had been a primitive call, it had been pure instinct, she had wanted to mate with him, to bear another child of such a powerful warrior.

"We'll have plenty of time when we kill Freeza" she said to herself. It was not hollow, like it had been all those times she had said it on Earth, solely to keep going. This time she believed it. Kakarot would kill Freeza; his power was wild, unbuckled, and infinite. He would kill Freeza.

00

In his surprise, Kakarot stood up and roughly pushed the Elder's hand away, earning a glare he did not notice from Nail. The Namek was about to scold him for insulting the Elder when he felt the power Kakarot had felt himself.

"What is that?" he asked, all trace of anger from his face gone.

"I don't know" Kakarot muttered, reaching for his scouter and marking the five power levels. "28000... 46000... 52000... 53300... Ah... It... It's impossible!"

"The last one is much stronger than the rest... who is he?"

"120000! It's... It has to be him!"

00

"Freeza called the Ginyu Force!" Raditz yelled at her as she woke up, feeling the incredible power as soon as she awoke. She threw a glance at the hidden Dragon Balls and followed Raditz outside. The long haired warrior stood in the middle of the large island, clutching his fists in anger. "I can't believe this!"

"They'll come after us" Fasha muttered to herself. "We're not strong enough to fight them... we need Kakarot!"

"He's too far away! At least four hours flight!" Raditz yelled as his fists turned white. "They'll find us before that!"

"Damn it" Fasha swore as she furiously thought on what to do, the Ginyu Force where the best mercenaries in the galaxy, the strongest fighting force there ever was, even Freeza respected them and paid them handsomely whenever he required their services. They had no chance against them. If they found them, they were done for. In an instant she calmed down, they had one chance, one last hope. She had watched Kakarot most of his life, watching how he reacted to what happened around him. She wouldn't have thought about it before, but it might just be possible. Fasha suddenly realized it was their only choice. "We're going to have to fight them ourselves."

"And get blown to pieces! There are two of us and five of them!"

"Three" a voice came from the behind them, the two of them turned around and were greeted by Vegeta, holding the last Dragon Ball on his left hand. All sense of irony and superiority was gone from his face, replaced by a fierce determination.

"Vegeta?"

"Surprise, surprise" he said as he threw the Dragon Ball inside the cave without taking his eyes off them. "Freeza called the Ginyu Force, and we are downright screwed. If we are to have any hope of surviving, we have to join forces."

"We won't join you" Raditz spat out with disgust. "I've had enough of you to last a lifetime, your highness."

"Then allow me to join you" he said seriously.

"You're serious" Fasha told, not lowering her guard but not attacking either, way too curious by the Prince's sudden change in attitude. "What's your angle?"

"Living would be my angle. I don't intend to die on this planet and I want to kill Freeza just as much as you do!"

"No" Fasha answered with a sad smile on her face. "Not as much as we do... but you have a point."

"What? I'm not fighting with him!"

"Face the facts, Raditz! We can't beat the Ginyu Force by ourselves... our best bet is to join forces... we'll wait for Kakarot to join us and then we'll make our wishes..."

"Damn it... fine! But I'm not taking orders from you, your highness."

"I wouldn't even waste my time ordering you around. We should leave this place and find a better battlefield. It wouldn't do if the Ginyu Force found the Dragon Balls."

"Right" Fasha said, reaching into her breast pocket. "Here" he said throwing each man a Senzu bean. They both caught it in the air and placed it inside their pockets. "Eat it if things get really bad, if we get beaten enough we might just stand a chance against them."

"We should cultivate the impression that we're weaker than we actually are."

"Why?" Raditz asked violently, turning his back on the Saiyan Prince.

"Because" Fasha answered him before Vegeta got another chance to insult him. "If we prove to be too interesting to them, Captain Ginyu might deal with us personally, and then we'll be screwed."

"Exactly... are we going or what?"

"Actually... We should stay here" Fasha said absentmindedly as she began to formulate a plan.

"And let them take the Dragon Balls?"

"Yes... if they have to take the Dragon Balls that will ensure that one of them will have to go back to give it to Freeza, if we get lucky, Ginyu might just be the one that does it."

"And then we can crush the other four easily!" Raditz butted in.

"Hopefully in time to intercept Ginyu and recover the Dragon Balls before he can give them to Freeza."

"Risky... If Freeza gets the Dragon Balls it's all over."

"Not quite" Raditz answered with a grin and a chuckle.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Freeza can't get his wish granted if he can't speak Namek."

"I see... so even if he figures out he has to have a Namek say his wish for him, it will still buy us enough time to get the Dragon Balls back."

"And for Kakarot to return."

"How did you do it?" Vegeta asked them as he crossed his arms and threw them a dirty look. "How did you three become so powerful so quickly? And how did Kakarot" he spat out the name. "gain so much power?"

"There's no need for you to know that." Fasha answered, crossing her own arms over her chest. "Suffice for you to know what Kakarot is."

"What he is?"

"You know what he is."

"He... No! That's impossible! You're lying! Just because he's strong it doesn't mean he's-"

"They're here!" Raditz yelled looking up at the sky.

Fasha and Vegeta both stopped arguing and looked up as well at the five floating figures looking down at them.

She recognized three of them right away. Captain Ginyu, with his bright purple skin and thick horns on his head, he was recognizable immediately. Jeice, his long white hair and bright red skin also gave him the ability to be recognized everywhere. Recoome she remembered by his sheer size, he would be trouble. The other two, the blue one and the small green one she did not recognize, but she assumed they had to be Burter and Guldo, which was which, she did not know though. With immense patience, the five of them lowered themselves into the ground, taking great delight in their shocked responses.

"Vegeta" Captain Ginyu greeted the Saiyan Prince, who simply scoffed at him. "Is that any way to greet those that can kill you easily? I remember the last time we met, you were having some trouble conquering... planet Acripot was it? It's been too long since."

"Not long enough" he answered with disgust.

"You have been causing trouble for Lord Freeza. Why don't you hand the Dragon Balls and make it easy for yourselves?"

"Over my dead body" he told them firmly, but his eyes unconsciously shot to the cave behind them for an instant before returning them to the five aliens in front of them. Ginyu raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"That can be easily arranged, very easily arranged... Burter" he said to the large blue one, clearing Fasha doubt from her mind. "Vegeta has so kindly revealed the Dragon Ball's location to us, fetch them."

It happened in less than an instant, she barely saw the blue alien move before she felt a gust of wind pass next to her and Vegeta. She turned her head for less than a second and when she felt the gust come again, she looked at the five of them, and a small cry escaped her lips.

There they were. All seven Dragon Balls at their feet.

"What? How?"

"I'm the fastest in the universe, kiddo!" Burter said with great delight.

"I'll leave you four to take of them. I'll go and take these back to Lord Freeza."

"No you won't'!" Raditz yelled as he charged against him.

"Raditz no!" Fasha screamed, but it was too late, again Burter moved and in a second, Raditz had crashed back on the ground next to them. She looked at him and almost ran towards him, but she stopped when she saw the quick thumbs up he gave her, it had been on purpose.

"You're not leaving here" Recoome said with a large grin as he took a step forward. "We get to play with you for a while!"

"Alright men! You know what to do" Jeice said as the four of them got into a circle facing inward. "Rock, paper, scissors! Rock, paper, scissors!"

Raditz got up and walked towards them slowly as the four of them kept yelling the same thing over and over again.

"What the hell are they doing?"

"You heard them, it's just a game to them" Vegeta said with anger.

"Alright!" the little green one, Guldo, said with delight. "I get to kill Vegeta!"

Vegeta snarled at him and walked away from Fasha and Raditz.

"Alright you mutated onion, you think you can kill me? Try!" he yelled as he charged against him. Fasha watched with interest, taking special care to make mental notes as best she could of any dangerous moves Vegeta displayed. She thought he had him, but when Vegeta punched Guldo, the alien disappeared and he missed. "Damn it."

"Over here, your highness!" Guldo mocked him in that disgust tone he had. Vegeta raced towards him, but the same thing happened. Again and again the little fat alien disappeared and reappeared, making Vegeta furious. "What's the matter your highness, you're getting sloppy!"

"That's it! Let's see you dodge this!" he yelled as he rose in the air and charged his move again. Cursing Raditz again for destroying the scouter, Fasha looked at Vegeta, hoping he wouldn't release too much power and alert Ginyu. Kakarot hadn't arrived yet, after all. The sky light up with a purple light and Guldo panicked at the sight, disappearing again. He reappeared a few dozen meters away from where he was, but it wasn't enough. Vegeta was about to throw his attack when Guldo threw his hands up and yelled something Fasha couldn't hear. Vegeta didn't move, and Guldo began laughing.

"Wow, Vegeta must have gotten stronger for Guldo to have to pull out the big guns!" Recoome said with crossed arms, smiling at the fight.

"They're not even taking this seriously... are they that strong?"

"Son of a bitch hit hard" Raditz said as he clutched his arm, popping it back in place with a groan. "He's much stronger than I thought."

"What's the matter, Vegeta?" Guldo yelled. "You want to take a break? No fair! Here!" and with that he began charging tiny energy balls in his hands. Gritting her teeth, Fasha charged as much energy as she dared and dashed forward. The huge blue alien saw her and moved to strike her, but Raditz had expected that, and a lucky knee hit the alien in the face, sending him flying back. Not hurt, but enough for Fasha to get to Guldo. "What?"

His last question remained unanswered as Fasha took a vicious swipe at the green man, severing his disgusting head clean from his body. She gave him a furious kick and the decapitated body landed near his comrades.

"Oh no, look at that, they cheated! No fair! Poor Guldo!" Recoome complained, stomping the ground in anger and looking at Fasha with murder on his eyes.

"No, no" Jeice said. "It was well played. We never said it had to be one on one."

"Alright, but I want to have fun with Vegeta!" Recoome said. "Guys, let me take him on!"

"I don't know Recoome, you had all the fun on that last assignment, when do we get to fight?"

"Come on!" the huge brute complained like a baby as Vegeta landed next to them. "I'll get you guys chocolate!"

"Mmm" they said, and the two aliens considered it for a while.

"Damn it" Vegeta swore. "If they take us on one on one we're done for."

"We just need to stall them" Fasha whispered to him, hiding the second part of her plan. _"Come on, Kakarot"_ she said to herself.

"Alright! Vegeta" Recoome said with a huge goofy grin. "You're mine! Recoome... KICK!" he yelled and he dashed forward almost as fast as Burter had done, brushing past Fasha before she had a chance to stop him. He got Vegeta straight in the stomach, while both Fasha and Raditz were still in the process of turning around. Burter and Jeice landed in front of them and wagged their fingers disapprovingly.

"This time you don't get to help him! You get to watch first row!"

Gritting her teeth, Fasha looked behind them and saw how Vegeta charged as much energy as he could muster.

"Wow, Vegeta! You've gotten much stronger!"

Vegeta didn't answer, instead he charged at Recoome, hitting him square in the jaw. The large man flew back and Vegeta punched his stomach, he kicked his ribs and grabbed his legs throwing him up the air. He followed him quickly and punched him back down, sending crashing against a small island. Without stopping, Vegeta landed and began charging his energy.

"Die!" he yelled as he threw energy ball after energy ball at the location where the giant had fallen. The explosions began to pile up and the dust cloud grew larger and larger, but Vegeta kept his attack, yelling as he felt his energy getting drained. Both Burter and Jeice turned to look at him with interest, but there was still no worry in their faces. Gritting her teeth in anger, Fasha kept looking. He paused for a moment, charging one last large attack. "Galick Gun!" he yelled, and the bright purple beam clashed against what remained of the island, sending it to oblivion as it ravaged everything on its path. Breathing heavily, Vegeta smiled at the large dust cloud.

"That was great, Vegeta!" the same stupid voice came towards them, and all three Saiyans looked stunned at the muscular man, walking out of the rubble like nothing had happened. His white and brown armor had been crushed to the point of almost nonexistence, but he was almost completely unharmed. "You really hurt me with that. Alright, my turn!"

Fasha wished even more fervently that she was back on Earth with Turnia as she watched what happened, and she was certain even Raditz felt sorry for the Saiyan Prince.

Recoome rushed forward and kneed Vegeta in the stomach again, before punching him twice in the face and sending him crashing down against the ground. He then kicked him up and chased him before grabbing his leg and throwing him back down to the ground. To her surprise, Vegeta charged back up with all his might and landed a solid punch against Recoome's stomach making him double over in pain, and for a moment Fasha wondered if he had managed to actually hurt him, but Recoome grinned and grabbed Vegeta by his chest.

"Vegeta!" Raditz yelled in disbelief, and Fasha felt genuine sympathy and sorrow for her fellow Saiyan. Time seemed to slow down as Recoome flew down towards the ground, with a firm grip on Vegeta's sides, while the Saiyan prince struggled to get away, but to no avail. His face was of pure terror, a mirror of Fasha's own expression.

She had lived through two wars, she had been sent on countless missions and never had she seen anything as brutal or as painful as what she saw now. With a huge smile, Recoome smashed Vegeta's head against the ground, burying the Saiyan prince up to his waist, a tiny cry of pain escaped Fasha's lips as she watched Vegeta's mangled body. Despite everything, Vegeta was a Saiyan, he was one of them, and she could watch no more.

"Hey, don't tell me you're dead already?" Recoome asked as he lifted Vegeta by his leg, earning a tiny groan from him. "There we go!"

In response, Vegeta shot all his remaining energy directly at Recoome's face, making the giant fall down and drop him. He landed on the ground and barely managed to roll somewhat away from him before his strength gave way, and Vegeta bought just enough time to pull out the tiny bean he had inside and put it on his mouth.

"Ah… Ah… Ah…" he groaned as he waited for the bean to take effect. A few seconds passed and he blinked a few times, and both he and Recoome stood up at the same time.

"What? How did you do that? I had you beat!"

"Too bad" Vegeta answered with a grin. "Let's try this again, shall we, you overgrown freak?"

Recoome charged again, but this time Vegeta managed to hold his ground, and while he wasn't strong enough to fight on equal terms, he manage to last longer this time, and by the way Recoome was heavily breathing, he managed to deal some damage to him. On the other hand, Vegeta was holding his left arm painfully, and despite his best efforts to hide it, they all realized Recoome's powerful attacks had left his left side all but crippled.

Still Fasha realized Recoome wasn't using his full power and that the game had just gotten somewhat more interesting to them, but it was still that, a game.

She sent her plan to hell and began charging her energy. Raditz quickly mimicked her and soon pink and white shone behind Burter and Jeice.

"So, you're going to fight?" Jeice asked them as he turned to face them. "Fine, let's see what you've got… 31000, not bad and you? Mmm… What? I can't believe it! 52000! You're almost as strong as I am? I thought Vegeta was the strongest Saiyan alive!"

"Looks like the game just got serious, boys" Fasha told him with a grin as she charged at the blue alien. Raditz charged against Jeice, but the red alien quickly brushed him aside. Still Raditz persisted, doing his best to keep up against the faster and stronger alien. Pushing herself to her maximum she was able to fight toe to toe against Burter, but the alien's speed allowed him to gain the upper hand, and her own power slowly began to falter.

00

Kakarot felt Fasha's, Raditz' and Vegeta's power levels decrease steadily. Whatever patience he had was gone when Raditz' power level went down to less than two thousand. He stood up and swatted the Elder's hand aside.

"I can't stay any longer. Do it all at once!"

"It will hurt child, I was only halfway there."

"Do it!"

The Elder placed his hand again on top of his head and unleashed all his power at once, and again Kakarot's body bulged as the raw energy was unleashed. He screamed in pain again as he's energy rose higher and higher. This time it took only six seconds, but Kakarot felt exhausted just the same.

"It is done… I am impressed child; you are by far the most powerful being I have ever felt."

"Thank you" Kakarot breathed as he grabbed a Senzu bean and ate it, feeling how the pain went away and the energy he had lost during expulsion returned. Without a second glance he ran outside and flew as fast as he could towards the battlefield, feeling how the power levels went even lower. "Hold on… just hold on, Fasha!"

00

When Raditz lost his fight against Jeice, she went down quickly, just like Vegeta had. With the three of them ganging up on her, Fasha too went down even faster. She groaned as she turned around and looked up at the bright green sky, where the three remaining members of the Ginyu Force were looking at her, grinning. She lifted her hand and aimed it as best she could at Recoome. She was halfway done charging her attack when Recoome flew down towards her, arms outstretched and fists closed, ready to clash down on her stomach. She fired, but the attack wasn't that strong and Recoome brushed it aside, colliding against her stomach hard.

Her eyes went wide as the searing pain spread through her entire body. She screamed loudly as she felt her stomach burst inside of her, splashing blood all over the inside of her body. She would have continued screaming but a large amount of blood came rushing through her throat and she began throwing up.

"Oops, I might have hit you a bit too hard, sorry!" Recoome said with a grin as he stepped aside. The pain was so large that tears began to burst from her eyes and her teeth began to chatter as her throat clamped shut.

"Kakarot… Kakarot… please" she begged as she clutched her fist as tightly as she could. She kept crying as Recoome grabbed her hair and lifted her with morbid curiosity. "Kakarot, please."

"Hey, why are you crying? Did I hit you too hard?"

"Please… Kakarot… Kakarot."

"Recoome! We got a very large power level coming out way!" Jeice screamed at him. "Leave her!"

"Stronger than her?"

"Yes! You two hold him off! I'll get Captain Ginyu!"

"What? We don't need him, Jeice! The three of us can beat him!"

"Better safe than sorry! I'll go get him!" he said, and Jeice blasted off, leaving a bright red trail behind him.

"Mmm, always the careful one. Alright Recoome, let's get this guy!"

"Right!" he said, dropping Fasha. As soon as she was dropped she tried to grab the Senzu beans still in her pocket, but her arms were beyond destroyed. She looked at them and with disgust noticed how her bone had gone through her skin and was completely exposed.

"Kakarot… Kakarot."

00

He noticed Raditz thrown in the ground, his armor was mostly undamaged, but he wasn't moving, his power level was extremely faint. Vegeta was near him, while his power level was even lower, he was breathing steadily, and his eyes locked on Kakarot as soon as he arrived. He saw the big blue alien above floating and looking at him with curiosity.

If he had been angry before, he needed a new word to describe what he felt when he saw Fasha on the ground behind the large hulking man. His eyes went wide, his fists turned white and he threw a look of barely controlled fury to the orange haired warrior.

"You will die slowly" he warned him before he dashed forward and sidestepped his feeble kick. He kneeled next to Fasha and very carefully turned her head to face him. She opened her wet eyes and looked at him as fresh tears flowed from her face.

"Kakarot? You're here…" her weak voice came through, and he wondered if Bardock had found her in similar circumstances in Planet Meat. Pushing the though aside, her placed his hand inside his breast pocket and drew the tiny green bean.

"I'm here, eat this" he said as he placed the senzu bean in her mouth. He didn't have a chance to see if she was able to swallow it because the man behind him kicked him on his neck. He did not even flinch at the attack, and instead stood up and looked at him straight in the eye. He took a step back and warily eyed him.

"Who, who are you?"

"It's not possible? What is he made off?" Burter asked as he looked down at them.

"I told you, you will die slowly."

Without another word Kakarot walked slowly towards the giant, who took another careful step back.

"I'm Recoome, of the Ginyu Force, you won't kill me easily. I'm too strong for you, little man!"

He threw another punch at Kakarot, this time hitting him in the chest, but it unfazed him and he kept walking. He kicked him and punched him repeatedly, but not a single one of his attacks had any effect. Above them, Burter looked petrified at the pair. Recoome was about to grab him, when Kakarot jumped up and kicked his head, sending him sprawling across the ground.

Burter began charging an energy ball on his hand, taking his time as Kakarot kept taking Recoome's attacks without flinching.

He fired and the attack hit him square in the back.

"I got him!"

"You mean me?" Burter heard behind him. Too shocked to respond, he turned around and saw the man standing behind him with his arms crossed.

"WHAT? How did you get here? What did you do?"

"I jumped up and flew behind you."

"Impossible! I'm the fastest being in the universe! I'm the fastest-" he began, but Kakarot's blinding punch sent him down to the ground. Before he had even hit the ground Kakarot flew down and punched Recoome in the face as he got up, sending him back down. "WHAT'S GOING ON?"

Burter turned around in the middle of the air and was about to charge him with all his speed when he felt another blow to his back. He barely had time to register what had happened before the strange man's kick ripped his head off his shoulders.

00

Recoome watched in horror as Burter's head flew away, and Kakarot felt great satisfaction in his the look of priceless terror.

"No! No! Who are you? How are you so strong?"

"I'm a Saiyan, but more importantly, I am your death" he said as he again walked towards him. "Don't even try to run away, it'll just make your death more painful."

"NO! We are the Ginyu Force! The strongest warriors in the Galaxy! Saiyans are puny little things! You can't be a Saiyan!"

Kakarot responded by punching him in his stomach and slapping his face with his tail again and again. When he was satisfied he had given him enough proof, Kakarot grabbed his arm and gave it a quick elbow, breaking it with a single blow. He let him go and kicked his head again, making him fall down and scream in pain.

"You're weak, you're a sadist… You hurt Fasha" he told him as he walked towards him. "I'm going to make you feel ten times the pain you made her feel."

00

Fasha watched in semi-horror as Kakarot pounded Recoome away, kicking and punching the alien as if it was a mere toy. His power level did not decrease in the least, indicating he was merely toying with him. Even without her scouter Fasha was able to tell that Kakarot's power level was massive.

But what scared her was the look of pure rage and bloodlust on his eyes, for a moment she wondered if he was truly what she had thought he was, and with each passing moment she thought his rage was increasing, his muscles were bulging and his teeth were pressed so hard together she thought they were going to break, his face contorted into a mask of wrath.

After a few seconds she remembered her fallen comrades and ran over to Raditz. He was barely alive, perhaps hurt even more than she was. With a few gentle slaps she awoke him and placed the tiny bean in his mouth.

"Eat" she told him as she left him behind and walked over to Vegeta. Raditz stood up at the same time she was giving Vegeta the bean, and the three of them watched how Kakarot demolished Recoome punch by punch, and soon enough the massive alien that had destroyed them so easily was left a bloody pulp.

With a scream of pure wrath Kakarot grabbed Recoome by his hair and punched his chest, ripping through it like it was tissue paper and Recoome fell to the ground, dead. He turned to look at them and walked towards them, sparing only a second to look at Vegeta.

"How many are left?"

"I… Two, Captain Ginyu and Jeice" she answered, looking at him with new eyes. She gently placed her hand on his cheek, feeling the power the radiated from him.

"I'll take care of them" he said, ignoring her hand completely. "What's your story?"

"Survival" Vegeta answered him. "How did you gain so much power?"

"The Elder unlocked my full potential" Kakarot answered in a matter-of-factly tone. "Where are the Dragon Balls?"

"Captain Ginyu has them, he's taken them to Freeza" Raditz answered as he stretched his sore arms. "Nice to see you back in shape and kicking ass."

"What's our next move then, do we go after him?" Kakarot asked.

"No, there's no need for that. Jeice went to get him."

"Mmm… that leaves Freeza… and Zarbon, right?"

"Right" Fasha told him.

"Ginyu and Jeice are probably on their way here or maybe just Ginyu" Raditz told them with crossed arms.

"Then we'll wait here" Fasha said. "Kakarot and I will take care of them, while you two go and try to find the Dragon Balls."

"What about Freeza?" Raditz asked them.

"Don't fight him, we need to take him on all of us at once, it's the only chance we'll get."

"Wait!" Vegeta said and all three of them looked at him. "Take me to the Elder; we need all the advantages we can get."

"Mmm… he's right" Fasha said, looking at Raditz, who rolled his eyes.

"Fine! But I make no promises, it's not like I'm his best bud or anything like that."

And with that both of them left, leaving Fasha and Kakarot alone.

"I… That was amazing" she told him once they were gone.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe just how high my power went."

"How high is it? Did you scan yourself?"

"Three times on the way here, I couldn't believe it."

"How high?"

He looked at her straight in the eyes and smiled softly.

"210000"

Her eyes opened wide, just like her mouth. She was about to reply when Captain Ginyu and Jeice landed near them, eyeing them both carefully.

"So this is the one that beat you all?" Ginyu asked looking at the dead bodies of his three teammates. Jeice swallowed and nodded.

"Yes sir, that's the one we picked up. I couldn't believe it when Burter and Recoome went down… he's just too strong!"

"Ready?" she asked Kakarot, who nodded and took his stance next to her.

"Saiyans? Interesting" Ginyu said to himself, taking his own stance. "You beat my men, but you won't be able to beat me. My power is second only to that of Lord Freeza! Let's see you try your best!"

Ginyu made the first move, punching Kakarot, who responded by throwing his own punch as Ginyu steadily pushed him back. Fasha however, was more occupied by the red alien meeting her own punches with his own. He tried to knee him but he did the same thing. She punched him and he jumped back, throwing a weak energy ball at her. She deflected it and grinned at him.

"What?"

She charged her power and her bright pink aura exploded even brighter than Jeice, and his scouter beeped as he read her power level.

"So, how high is it?" she asked with a grin.

"No, it can't be? How?"

She charged a bright pink energy ball, and Jeice charged his own red blast, throwing it at her before her own was ready. She jumped up and dodged it, throwing her own pink blast on top of him; he dashed back to what he thought was a safe distance, only for the pink ball to split into five and follow him, crashing against the ground surrounding him, engulfing him in a bright pink explosion.

Without giving any time to prepare, Fasha raced down, landed in front of him, and pointed her index finger at him. Jeice coughed and finally opened his eyes, and was greeted by the smiling Fasha. The last thing he saw was a tiny pink light that came ever closer to his eye.

00

With a grin, Fasha picked up Jeice's scouter and read the last power level it had scanned; her own.

74450.

She then scanned Kakarot and Captain Ginyu, shocked at both their power levels.

180000.

192000.

With Kakarot gaining the upper hand, she took a few moments to check the battle field. Guldo's and Burter's decapitated bodies, Recoome's mangled corpse and Jeice cadaver were thrown around the battlefield, with only Captain Ginyu remaining from the Ginyu Force, a mistake that would be corrected soon.

Another beep indicated that Vegeta had reached the Elder.

63000.

59100.

"Mmm… Vegeta and Raditz? Interesting, looks like Raditz had some more power hidden inside of him."

It happened in an instant. One moment she turned around to look at Kakarot and Ginyu fighting and the next she was staring at the ground, being pressed by Kakarot's body, who was breathing heavily. She did not see the purple energy beam that had hit him straight in the back, and she did not see Captain Ginyu's kick to Kakarot's head. All she saw was the shadow of Kakarot's hair one second and the bright sky the next second.

She turned to look at them both and quickly scanned them again, her brain catching up with what had happened.

138900.

113800.

Fasha took a deep breath as she realized what Ginyu had done.

00

Despite the pure rage he felt, despite the barely controlled anger he had inside of him, Kakarot still realized that there were other things surrounding him, he had almost never been blinded by rage, the only time it had happened had been when Nappa killed Tien and Krillin, so he noticed Fasha looking at the fight. Unfortunately Ginyu also noticed her and he managed to push Kakarot aside with an elbow to his jaw and fire a powerful energy beam at Fasha. If Kakarot had been calm and focused, he would have realized that Ginyu's beam had not been powerful enough to kill her, and he wouldn't have foolishly rushed in like he did, taking the attack straight to his back. The move cost him a lot of energy, and his entire back was numb from it, but Fasha was safe. Raising his power level to the max he charged at Captain Ginyu, landing a very solid blow to his chest, but the Captain was a veteran, and he did not go down easily. As he doubled over, he used all his strength to hit Kakarot straight in the neck with both elbows, making the darkness consume his eyes faster than he could think. His unconscious body fell down to the ground with a thud.

00

Fasha watched in horror how Kakarot went down, while Captain Ginyu looked down.

"Such power… I never thought… It could be real… if he hadn't been so unfocused he would've… killed me."

Her violet eyes met his own as her power level rose higher and higher, reaching her peak in a matter of seconds. She felt how her muscles began to heat up and she spread her legs, ready for takeoff. Her anger was so great that she did not see properly, but her speed was too much for the weakened Ginyu, and she hit him straight in the jaw, sending his head flying back. Weakened by his fight and the effort of shooting that energy beam at her, Ginyu was no match for the furious Fasha, who proceeded to pummel him with a barrage of blows and kicks that slowly made the Captain lose ground.

She kept pushing him back as she screamed in anger at him, all lessons about dealing with loss and keeping one's emotions in check during a fight forgotten. Her rage began to die down after a few more minutes and she began to fight much more precisely, conserving more energy until she saw an opening.

She spotted it. As Captain Ginyu raised his right hand to block her jab to his face, he leaned the weight of his body to his left side in order to be prepared to block her next move. Had he been at full strength, or at least, not as weakened as he was, he would have been fast enough to adjust his stance if she threw a kick instead of punching him, but his fight with Kakarot had drained him more than he expected, because Fasha was able to land a solid kick to his ribcage, her boots crunching with the power of it. Ginyu screamed in pain as one of his ribs broke and she took the opportunity to get behind him and place her hand behind his head. He did his best, she gave him that, and had Kakarot not weakened him she would have never been able to even hurt him, but he still died just like Jeice had as her thin pink beam passed through his brain and exited through his left eye, killing him instantly.

"Don't you hurt Kakarot" she whispered to the dead alien, kicking his corpse for good measure.

She looked at him, still unconscious on his white armor and blue bodysuit, and her plan again came rushing to her mind.

With a sad glint in her eyes Fasha walked towards Kakarot and turned him over, while flashes of Turnia walking and eating played in front of her. She combed his hair softly while his breathing began to stabilize, and fresh tears fell from her eyes into his face. She stood up and looked at the two power levels displayed in her scouter; Vegeta and Raditz were on their way. She could not tell them, much less Vegeta, his pride would prevent her plan from coming into fruition. Another power level popped up.

530000.

It was Freeza. Gritting her teeth she came to the realization that this was the only way. Freeza was heading towards The Elder's house. If she waited for Vegeta and Raditz, it would take them only about fifty minutes to reach Freeza's spaceship. Giving them plenty of time to summon the Dragon and get their wish granted. She would make Kakarot's wish, Vegeta would most likely ask for immortality and Raditz could have whatever he wanted, she did not care.

She looked at Kakarot, the last piece of her plan, and she wondered what Bardock would have said. Would he be proud of what she was going to do? Or would he condemn her for sacrificing her fellow Saiyans. Raditz and Vegeta landed nearby, and Raditz spoke to her, but she did not pay any attention to him, cutting him in mid-sentence.

She told them how Kakarot had been knocked out, how they would have to leave him behind, and how he would wake up in time to come help them. The lies came so easily out of her mouth it was astounding really, since when had she been able to lie so easily?

Raditz and Vegeta took off, and she followed closely behind, looking at the two dead men. She shot one last look at Kakarot's unconscious body, hoping he would find the Senzu bean she had left him when he woke up.

"You'll take care of her" she whispered to herself, barely audible above the flapping wind. "You'll take care of her… you'll avenge us all, Kakarot only you… only a Super Saiyan can do it. Kill Freeza, and set us free."

_00_

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 22 Crazy Like A Fox (Motörhead) on Fasha's hidden plan. What is it? What is she going to do? :o_

_ Things are getting interesting! The confrontation against Freeza is getting closer by the moment! Will Fasha's hidden plan work? Will Vegeta get his wish for immortality granted? And what will Fasha and Raditz wish for? Find out in the next chapter of Dragon Ball Z, where the fallen with finally rise!_

_ Thank you guys so much for all your support and reviews, thank you Teage Dunsten, Chimera Prime, dmear2__, __ supersaiyan3goku__ and everybody else that has taken the time to review and comment on my story, thank you__ for all your review__s__ and ideas,__ and for bearing with the occasional grammatical horrors XD__ thanks guys! :p_


	23. Hatred Unbound

Chapter 23

The sky was complete black when we awoke. His sore neck and back hurt him to the point he could barely move. After a few seconds of looking around he tried to get up and found a tiny green bean under his fist. With great interest he looked around, only to find the mangled corpses of the Ginyu Force around him. He didn't remember killing Captain Ginyu, had Fasha done that? With a groan he got up and looked around, staring at the black sky above him. The occasional thunder roared defiant in the background, and his brain finally caught up with what was happening. Where were Vegeta, Raditz, and Fasha?

He rose in the air and began to scan the area around him. There was the Elder's power level, low as it was, Nail was near him, but badly hurt by the looks of it. On the opposite side of the planet, five power levels were clustered together.

11200.

98000.

14000.

150.

530000.

"Freeza!" he yelled, flying in their direction as he ate the Senzu bean, feeling how his energy returned to him and rose even higher. They were fifty minutes away, he would make it, he had to. "No, no, no, no, no!"

00

Raditz sounded funny when he spoke Namek, and Fasha was certain he spoke it clumsily and with a thick accent, but the important thing was that he could speak it. He called the Dragon and the sky turned black in an instant, thunder filled the sky and grey clouds covered her gaze.

The glowing Dragon Balls exploded in a surge of energy, and a yellow energy beam shot upward, growing thicker and larger with each second, the beam bended and turned giving shape to a thick golden dragon. The glow began to die down, and the Dragon appeared before them. He was massive, his arms where thicker than tree trunks, his glowing red eyes stared at them, penetrating into their very souls. He had thick green scales that covered his back, and his skin was a clear yellow.

"You who have gathered the seven Dragon Balls" it spoke in a booming voice, making the Earth shake as he did. "Listen to your heart's desire and tell me your wishes. I will grant any three wishes within my power."

"I can't believe it" Raditz said. "Porunga… The God of Dreams."

"Raditz! Hurry up and make my wish!" Fasha interrupted him, and he managed to regain his bearings long enough to think how to say 'Bring Piccolo back to life and bring him here on Namek'. He finally managed to stutter out her wish and the Dragon was silent for a few seconds before it spoke.

"A simple matter, but it will require two of your wishes to do so. Shall I proceed?"

"You sure the Namek can help?" Raditz asked.

"He helped us before, and King Kai seems to think Piccolo is strong enough! Besides that'll bring the Dragon Balls back on Earth, we need him."

"Fine, then I guess you can have my wish" Raditz told her angrily before said yes in Namek.

"Thank you" Fasha told him with sincere thanks. The Dragon's eyes glowed twice, and he spoke.

"It is done. What is your third wish?"

"Wait, where is he?"

"I… I… might have not specified where in Namek he should bring Piccolo… I… Crap."

"I can't believe this, Raditz! Damn it!"

"Enough, Raditz! Make my wish!" Vegeta interrupted. "Freeza's on his way!"

"Right, right… Um… how do you say, immortality?" Raditz thought to himself.

"You have got to be kidding me! Freeza's on his way, make the wish now!" Vegeta yelled with sweat pouring from his forehead.

"Got it!" Raditz said, and he managed to stutter out his wish. Fasha only understood the word Vegeta, and she sincerely hoped Raditz had wished for something else than his immortality, it would hard enough to deal with his ego as it was.

"A simple matter. It will-" The Dragon began, and stopped. The Dragon Balls began to flicker below him and in a flash, he disappeared, the sky turned green again, and seven balls of stone fell down from the sky, right at their feet.

"WHAT? NO! IT CAN'T BE!" Vegeta yelled, furious. "WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?

"The Elder" Raditz spoke with unprecedented respect on his voice. "He's dead. And the Dragon Ball died with him."

"NO, NO, NO!" Vegeta yelled, and Fasha was about to point out, perhaps with a bit more happiness than she should have, that at least Freeza wouldn't get his wish for immortality either, she was stopped however, by the arrival of none other, than Freeza himself.

00

Piccolo looked around him, everything felt so familiar, so right. It felt like he had been blindfolded all his life and now he could see. Like he had been wearing gloves and now he could feel.

"I'm home" he spoke softly, before remembering why he was here. "Right, time to make Freeza pay for what he did to my people."

He located the largest Ki and followed it, drinking in the beauty of his planet all the way there. A faint power level popped up while he raced and he stopped for a moment, looking around. He located another Namek, thrown in the ground. He looked dead, but he could feel a faint power coming from him. As he landed he opened his eyes and looked at him.

"Ah… you are Katas' son."

"Do I know you?"

"Nail, I am a warrior, just like you… Your friends are in trouble… Freeza… is stronger than they think. I know, I had a chance to experience his power first hand."

"I know, I am on my way. That is why I must apologize to you, for I must let you die alone" Piccolo said as he stood up.

"Wait!" Nail said as he struggled to breathe. "It is a shame you are not complete, even… Freeza would have trembled before… your might, had you been… complete."

"What? You mean… fuse with Kami? Even… Freeza?"

"That however, is not an option now is it? But… you can fuse with me."

"A generous offer, but I'd rather remain myself."

"I won't change you, I'll just add my power to yours. Allow me to help you… avenge our people. I am the strongest warrior left alive, if we join forces… We'll be unstoppable."

"Alright" Piccolo said after a few brief seconds of hesitation. "But if I don't like it I'm pushing you out."

"Don't worry" Nail told him with a soft chuckle as Piccolo placed his hand on his chest. "I promise I won't do anything to annoy you."

The two Nameks glowed as Nail's body began to dissipate, seeping into Piccolo's own body, and his power level burst like he never would have believed, his energy rose to a level he never would have even dreamed of achieving before. With a smile he read one more time the power levels around him, even Freeza's seem tiny compared to his own.

"NO ONE CAN STOP ME NOW! I HAVE GAINED ULTIMATE POWER!" he yelled with his hands raised, laughing loudly. "GET READY FREEZA! THE LAST NAMEK IS COMING FOR YOU!"

00

The sky turned green again as Kakarot flew, and for a moment he wondered if Freeza had made his wish but as he read his power level, he realized he was still two minutes away from them, something else must have happened. As he pushed himself harder, his scouter beeped and another power level popped up, this one much larger than anything Kakarot had felt before this. He stopped in midair and tried to figure out who it was, when it hit him.

"Piccolo!" he yelled in delight. He was much closer to the fight than he was, he would be able to help them, hell he would do a better job than he could. Feeling a little less pressure on his chest, Kakarot lowered his energy output and flew more comfortably, he would be able to conserve his energy for the fight against Freeza. And with a chuckle, he added. "If Piccolo leaves something for me to fight."

00

Vegeta's blood curled as he watched the small tyrant standing above a tall rock, looking down at them so calmly, almost amused. But Vegeta knew that glare, Freeza was angry, Freeza was very angry.

"I should commend you" the white and purple alien said as he jumped down from the rock. "Ever since I realized you had summoned the Dragon God and I rushed back here, I have been thinking about the last time I was this angry at somebody. And guess what? I couldn't find one occasion. You have done what nobody else in the entire galaxy has ever done. You three fools" he spat as he walked towards them "have earned my full and unconditional wrath."

"No, damn it. Damn it!"

"You have taken my wish away from me, and for that, you three will die, very slowly.

"Take your best shot, Freeza" Vegeta yelled defiant. "But if you think you can just toss me aside then you're in for a rude awakening."

"I'm going to get you back for all the Saiyans you killed" Fasha said to the Tyrant as she tightly wrapped her tail around her waist, snapping it hard against it in anger. "You're going to pay for what you did to Bardock."

"Saiyans, foolish monkeys" Freeza said with a grin. "Stubborn to the point of being fools… you two will die an especially painful death. Since you, Raditz have had the brains to remain silent, you will suffer less before your demise."

The galactic tyrant charged against the three of them. He hit Vegeta in the neck with his tail, he kicked Fasha's chest and punched Raditz in the chin, landing neatly on the other side while the three Saiyans recovered from his unexpected attack.

"Damn it" Raditz muttered again as he stood up.

"I will take my time with you" he said as his tail angrily swayed from left to right.

00

Dende watched from a safe distance as the three Saiyans were thrown about by Freeza, feeling a mixture of terror and sympathy for Raditz, and nothing but contempt for Vegeta. And while he feared and disliked Vegeta strongly, he cringed when the Saiyan prince was hit as hard as Freeza was hitting them. Still the three of them kept fighting, and they even managed to hit and hurt the alien when the three of them fought together.

He silently prayed for a miracle to happen as he watched on, doing his best to shut down the screams of pain coming from the Saiyans.

00

Piccolo landed as Vegeta was sent towards him. He caught him with one hand and dropped him next to him, not sparing even a glance at the Saiyan Prince. Who got up in an instant.

"Hey, it's the green man!" Raditz yelled in delight despite having his neck wrapped by Freeza's tail. Even Freeza turned to see who it was. The tiny creature stopped fighting the Saiyans and looked at him.

"So one more bug comes to be crushed under my heel, you Nameks are really starting to annoy me" he said as he hit both Raditz and Fasha with his tail and sent them flying away.

"So you're Freeza?" He asked as he took off his turban and cape, dropping the heavy clothing aside. "Disgusting, no wonder they want to kill you. I'm going to have to disappoint them, since the pleasure of ripping your big head off will be mine."

"Oh my, a Namek with a sense of humor? I guess there is a first time for everything" Freeza said as he raised his hand to his scouter. Piccolo allowed himself to be scanned and took great delight as he watched Freeza's expression. "What? It's… it's almost one million! How is this possible? Who are you?"

"One million? It can't be!" Vegeta said as he took a few cautious steps away from Piccolo, giving him plenty of room to move around.

"One million?" Raditz wondered out loud.

"You went to the Elder or something? No wait he's dead… how'd you got so strong?"

"Nail sends his regards, Raditz" he said before charging against the smaller Tyrant, who was sent flying by his powerful kick. Before he had flown very long, Piccolo stretched his arm and grabbed Freeza's tail, pulling him back down against him and kicking him again, sending him crashing against a large island away from them.

The three Saiyans were speechless, as the entire attack had taken place so fast, they had barely been able to seen it.

"No way! Am I dreaming?"

A loud crash got their attention and the four of them turned their heads to see the small alien land on the same rock he had landed before, a furious scowl on his face. He raised his power level to the max and ripped his armor with his strength, but if that was meant to scare Piccolo it did nothing as the Namek merely scoffed at him.

"You hurt me… That hurt… I won't forgive you" Freeza said as he spread his legs and began to glow. "I am Freeza, the ruler of the Galaxy, You think I will be defeated by you? I'll show you my true strength!"

"By all means, amuse me."

"You will eat those words, Namek!" Freeza threatened him as his body was engulfed in a dark pink aura, and the three Saiyans flew back a few meters, giving both of them enough room to maneuver and not be caught in the crossfire. His small frame began to expand, and his muscles began to bulge as he grew taller and taller, still Piccolo did not seem impressed. Two large horns grew from his domed head as he reached perhaps the three meters mark. His legs grew to the almost to thrice the size they had been before. "Time for round two, Namek."

"Good, I was getting bored."

"Like I said, you will eat those words. In this form, my power level is easily over one million" he announced with great delight. "I'll make you suffer."

With a word the two of them charged at each other, and both of them clashed in a flurry of punched and kicks that made the ground shake, astounding the three Saiyan warriors, who merely floated and watched in disbelief.

00

Kakarot felt the clash of powers even from where he was, and he suddenly grew nervous. Piccolo was mighty, he was even stronger than he was, but there was no way he could win alone. He was already having trouble as it was! Feeling the pressure returning to his chest he raced again.

00

"We have to do something!" Raditz yelled as he watched how Piccolo was thrown about the battlefield, barely able to hold his ground against the much powerful alien.

"What can we do? Even our best moves would do nothing but annoy Freeza!"

"Give me a sec… there he is!" Raditz yelled as he finally spotted the little green boy. "Let's move, quietly, follow me."

The three Saiyans lowered themselves to the ground and quickly ran across the island, reaching the Namek's hiding place quickly.

"Who is he?"

"A healer" Raditz told them as they made sure they were far away from the fight. "Dende!"

"Ah! Please don't kill me!"

"Damn you're a jumpy one. It's me!"

"Ah, Raditz!"

"Hey listen, we need your help, we need you to heal us! We need to fight him. "

The little boy eyed the three of them, his eyes resting a moment longer on Vegeta.

"I'll heal you two, but not him."

"What?" Vegeta asked, taking a step towards the kid, who cringed in fear.

"He killed my friends, my brothers! I won't help you!"

"Vegeta get back!" Raditz ordered him, taking great delight in giving the Saiyan prince and order for the first time in his life. "Listen Dende, like it or not we need his help. I promise we won't let him hurt you or anybody else, just help us now or we're all dead!"

The kid thought about it for a moment, and when he saw Piccolo receiving a particularly nasty hit on his stomach he finally nodded.

"Wait!" Fasha said as stood in the middle of both of them. "Since we have a healer we should take advantage of the situation. Vegeta, hit me" she told him, and Vegeta nodded with a nasty grin.

"Can't say I won't enjoy this."

Vegeta charged all his power in one fist as Fasha lowered her own as low as she could, and his fist ripped right through her stomach, bursting it for the second time of the day. Fasha did her best to hold back the scream she wanted to let loose, and fell down to the ground, coughing blood all over as the pain shot through her body yet again.

"Right, now Dende, help her!" Raditz said as the little boy managed to recover from the shock. He ran next to her and placed his hands over her wound, sending the small healing bursts into her body. She soon began to stop coughing and before the minute was over, she was already on her feet, looking at the hole in her outfit.

"Yes! Better than I expected, thanks little man" she told him as she placed her hand on his head and rubbed it warmly. The little boy laughed and smiled at her. "Now, Vegeta, your turn."

00

Piccolo felt how his head got bashed in against the solid rock, his cheek cutting open and his chin almost ripping apart. He managed to pry his feet from Freeza's grip and kick him in the head, which made him let go. He quickly brought his other foot up and kicked Freeza in the face again before aiming his right hand at his face while he held his wrist with his left one. Freeza looked down and almost brought his hands up to block the attack, but Piccolo fired first.

"Explosive Demon Wave!"

The attack hit his chest and sent Freeza flying back, but he wasn't hurt seriously. Piccolo breathed heavily as he held his shoulder.

"I told you I would make you eat those words, you scum!" Freeza taunted him as he charged forward, but his attack was stopped by Fasha's and Raditz' kick to his head, which sent Freeza flying away from him.

"Green man, get to the healer boy, he's in the cave. We'll hold Freeza off!"

"Healer boy?" Piccolo muttered, but knew better than to ask question. He raced away from the battle field and found the cave, where Vegeta was. Without a word the Saiyan prince flew towards the fight with murder on his eyes as Piccolo entered the cave. "Dende, they meant you? I'm glad to see you're still alive."

"Who? Who are you?"

"My name is Piccolo."

"You feel… familiar."

"He, he. I fused with Nail on the way here."

"Nail! No wonder you're so strong! Nail is the strongest warrior in the planet!"

"Right. Listen Dende, patch me up, I need to get back into the fight."

"Don't worry, Nail! I mean, Piccolo" Dende told him with a smile as he placed his hands over his chest. In a matter of seconds Piccolo felt the bruises and cuts go away, and the energy that had been drained return to him. Dende wiped his sweaty forehead and smiled at him. "Done!"

"Thanks. Stay here and don't poke your head out" he harshly ordered him. "I don't want Freeza to see you."

"Ok!"

Despite the power boost they had received, the Saiyans were quickly outclassed by the transformed Freeza, and by the time Piccolo returned only Vegeta was still fighting. He kicked Freeza and threw energy blast after energy blast at him, but the tyrant was unfazed and merely shrugged his attacks off.

Piccolo began charging his energy as Fasha and Raditz got up to fight again, and the three of them kept Freeza busy for a few precious second. In what had to be the most organization he had seen from the three, they kicked Freeza at the same time, grabbed his legs, arms and tail, and held him in place for half a second, enough for Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon to do its magic. The thin beam travelled through the air and rushed towards him. Freeza yelled and raised an energy wave, sending them flying away from him, but it didn't have the same effect with Piccolo's attack. The orange beam cut through his energy shield like it wasn't there and hit him straight in the chest, making him scream in pain as he flew back from the four of them.

"I don't know how you fools can have so much power but it ends now! I'm not going to let you four hurt me again! You will all die here like the insects you are!" Freeza yelled as the same aura covered him again.

"No! He can transform one more time!" Vegeta yelled as he raced back into the cave, foolishly giving away Dende's location. Cursing him, Piccolo began charging another attack while Fasha and Raditz followed him. Freeza's body bulged again, but this time instead of growing some more he shrunk somewhat. His head began to stretch and extra horns appeared on it.

"Be honored, you are the first in a very long time to witness this transformation!"

Freeza's facial features contorted as his nose melded into his mouth, giving him some sort of beak. Two pair of spike grew from his back with a sick noise. His own white body armor expanded and seemed to cover his shoulders, making him seem much more alien than he was before. His huge head seemed to make him slow, and he stood hunched over, looking at Piccolo with his strange red eyes.

With speed that defied logic, Freeza got behind Piccolo, punched his back at least five times and kicked him up in the air, sending a barrage of finger beams after him. He threw at least ten beams, and every single one of them hit the Namek straight in the back, and he fell down straight into the ground.

00

When Fasha, Raditz and Vegeta returned to the battlefield, they witnessed Piccolo getting beaten to a pulp in less than ten seconds, and as the Namek fell from the sky into the ocean, their hope began to dwindle.

"Kakarot" Fasha spoke softly as she watched Piccolo struggled to stay afloat. "Where are you?"

00

"Just a few more minutes" Kakarot whispered as he read his scouter's reading. "Please guys hold on, just a few more minutes!"

00

The speed in which Fasha was pummeled amazed Vegeta, despite having boosted her power to unimaginable levels, they were no match for him. He gritted his teeth in anger and horror as he recalled just how close he had been to obtaining immortality, if only Raditz had asked for his wish first, if only he had become immortal! He would have been able to kill Freeza! He would have!

With a single kick Freeza sent him towards the ground, all his ribs broken. Raditz foolishly tried to grab him from behind, only to be slapped away with his tail.

"Is that all you got? I thought you were going to kill me, I thought you were going to make me pay for my crimes!" he taunted them as he looked at the four downed warriors. "Now then… let's see what's hiding in this cave."

With a quick blast Freeza destroyed the ceiling of the cave Dende was hiding, and the tiny Namek ran away in fear, jumping into the ocean to hide from him. Laughing, Freeza charged a small energy ball and threw it at the cave, making the entire place blow up. The explosion was powerful enough to send even Vegeta and Piccolo flying a few meters, and Vegeta heard the Namek curse Freeza for killing the little boy. Doing his best to stand up, Vegeta looked at the situation with grim eyes and even he found himself wishing for Kakarot to arrive at the battlefield.

"Damn it… I would have been immortal."

"You put up a good fight, but in the end trash will be trash" Freeza said as he landed on the cave, looking at the four of them with what looked like a smile on his face. "I will grant you the honor of seeing me in my full power! You four will be the first to witness my true form!"

"No, is it possible?"

"It can't be."

"He's… such a monster… I can't believe it."

"Looks like we bit much, much more than we could chew… ah crap."

Freeza's skin began to glow and he crouched even more, forming a thick white carapace around himself. His power rose into like there was no end to it, dwarfing even his previous forms. When he finally emerged, he was a short, lizard-like creature, he seemed almost harmless. His horns and spikes had disappeared complete. His figure became much more sleeker, and contrary to the strange pink pieces of flesh he had had before his skin became a pure solid white, with the same purple dome on his head and a few other purple sections on his shoulders, forearms, chest and shins. He stretched and curled his fingers one at a time and finally opened and closed his fist. His tail stretched to become almost as long as he was, and it swayed dangerously. Whatever injuries Vegeta and the rest might have caused disappeared. There was not even a mark on his perfect white skin.

He looked at each of them in turn with an almost gentle smile on his face.

"And here we are" he said with a smooth, gentle voice. "I must apologize for making you wait so long but in this form my power is so large I can barely control it, it must be released gradually our I would have destroyed this planet just by transforming, and I would so much rather kill you with my bare hands."

"But… it's not possible! It can't be happening!" Raditz yelled as he took a step back. "Everything we did… it had no effect!"

Freeza smiled and in a second was in front of him, his arms crossed, Raditz fell down to the ground in horror and tried to scamper away from him, all Saiyan pride forgotten, but Freeza whipped him with his tail and knocked him unconscious. Vegeta, in a blind rage charged at him, but Freeza merely smacked him aside with his tail. Fasha and Piccolo joined the fray, and the three of them kept punching and kicking the Tyrant, and still he held them back by using only his tail, smiling that deceivingly kind smile he had on his face. Tears of frustration began to fall from Vegeta's face as even his fastest and strongest moves had no effect on Freeza.

"I am the Prince of all Saiyans!" he yelled as he pushed Fasha and Piccolo aside, fighting even more furiously. His lighting fast punches and kicks surprised even Freeza, and Fasha's scouter beeped as she read Vegeta's power level. "I am the Prince of all Saiyans! We are the strongest race in the universe! We are a true warrior race, we cannot be defeated by you! We will not fall to you! We are invincible! I AM THE PRINCE OF ALL SAIYANS! DIE FREEZA!" Vegeta yelled as he charged all his energy into his hand, aimed it directly at his head and fired.

The blast was deafening, the light that Vegeta's cannon expulsed was enough to blind them all. The energy was so much it would have destroyed the planet had he aimed it at it. Vegeta screamed as he pumped the last of his energy into the attack, until finally it stopped. The energy beam left Namek's atmosphere and travelled thousands of miles into deep spacing, lighting it's way with purple light as it went, slowly dying as it travelled.

And Freeza remained unscathed.

"That hurt my eyes, Vegeta" he stated in a completely calm tone, and the weakened Vegeta did not have the energy to remain even airborne. His arms hung lowly at his sides, his tail was no longer wrapped around his waist, and instead hung low. "Are you crying? If I was the cause for that, then I truly apologize. Please excuse me while I go and kill your friends, I want to save the best for last."

Vegeta slowly descended towards the ground, landing weakly on it before he feel on his knees, looking straight at the sky as his vision was clouded by the tears flowing out of his eyes. How could this happen? Oblivious at the sounds of agony coming from behind him, Vegeta wondered what they could possibly do now. Kakarot hadn't arrived, he was most likely still unconscious, or he had been smart and ran away. Vegeta looked down at the ground and grabbed a clump of dirt, glad for something he crush with his hands. Even that was denied to him, as the solid rock proved too hard for the weakened prince, and he threw it in anger away from him. He fell down to the ground and rested, hoping for some miracle that would save them from him.

And as Raditz was thrown next to him, breathing heavily and with his legs broken, it hit him. Had other races felt like this? When they had invaded, when they had destroyed everything in their planet and left, had they felt like he felt now? Had they given up hope and just wished for something to save them from the evil Saiyans?

"What have we done?"

00

Kakarot landed on the battlefield, his presence drawing Freeza's attention away from the badly beaten Piccolo.

"Um?"

"Freeza."

"Mmm, another Saiyan, how interesting" he said to himself as he threw Piccolo to the same place where he had thrown Raditz and Fasha, Kakarot looked over his shoulder and spotted the place. "That makes it two Saiyans that survived the explosion on Planet Vegeta, that's interesting. I suppose you came here to try and kill me as well?"

"That's what I was born to do" Kakarot said before he rushed forward snatched the weakened Piccolo away from where Freeza had thrown him and flew him to a separate island.

"Goku?"

"Hey, Piccolo. Don't worry, I'm here."

"I'm glad you're here… but I can't help but feel you only came to die here."

"The only one that's going to die is Freeza, Piccolo. I'll make certain of it. Stay here, I'm going to go check on the others."

"Right."

Kakarot flew to the island where the last three Saiyans were waiting for him, Raditz and Fasha greeting him with a grin.

"Kakarot? Here to give Freeza a piece of your mind?" Raditz said as he clutched his legs, both of them were badly broken, at least in three different places. Fasha was even worse, her right arm was completely shattered, and she was bleeding from her mouth and legs. Her forehead had a large cut, and she didn't seem to feel her legs either.

"Kakarot… you're here… Damn… it's the second… time… you've seen me like this."

"Don't worry Fasha, I'll get all of you back to Earth, everything will be alright, don't worry."

"You should have run away, Kakarot" Vegeta said, surprising the three Saiyans next to him. "There's no end to Freeza's power… You should have run away."

"I am a Saiyan, Vegeta. We don't run away" Kakarot said as he stood up and looked at Freeza, who had an amused look on his face as he stared at their exchange from the adjacent island.

"Kakarot look at us!" Vegeta yelled. "What hope do we have? There is nothing we can do!"

"You're wrong" Fasha spat out, wiping the blood from her mouth with her still working arm. "Kakarot is what neither of us is. Kakarot is the only… one that can kill Freeza. You can do what we could not, Kakarot, because you… you are what Freeza fears the most, the one thing that can defeat him. Kakarot… you are a Super Saiyan!"

"What?" Freeza said, narrowing his eyes and rising in the air, listening very carefully to what the female monkey was saying.

"I know you are… I've watched you grow up, ever since you were a baby. I have seen your endless potential, your keen mind… you are the ultimate warrior Kakarot, you surpass all of us because you are invincible. You are the one that will avenge our race, the destruction of our planet! You Kakarot, are the Super Saiyan!"

Two thin beams flew next to them. The first one hit Vegeta and pierced him through the back. The second one hit Raditz' head, and both Saiyans died in an instant. Kakarot rushed to each of them, holding his dead brother's corpse as he lifted his head, his anger rising at the creature that had killed everything he knew, everything he had. His moment of rage was over and he ran back to Fasha, intent on dragging her away from Freeza's reach, but he was too late.

Fasha's eyes went wide when the thin pink beam passed through her breast, destroying her heart completely and killing her instantly. Her heart stopped pumping and the color drained from her body as the blood seeped through the open wound. She let out her last breath and turned her head to face Kakarot one last time. Her last tear managed to squeeze out of her right eye as she closed them and allowed the darkness to take her, hanging from her cute nose until gravity forced down on the ground.

"FASHA! NO!" Kakarot yelled and he kneeled next to her, holding her arms and shaking her furiously. "Don't die, Fasha! No! You can't die! No, please! FASHA! NO!"

"There" Freeza answered. "I was getting tired of her anyways. Now, can we continue? I would like very much to finish this, I am getting tired of this Planet."

But Kakarot didn't respond, his arms, his chest, his neck and his back began to twitch unconsciously, his blood boiled like it never had before, his vision went white and he saw no more as his head began to pound furiously. He felt like the first time he had transformed into a Great Ape, he felt trapped inside his own body, the rage was too much for him to control, his wrath escaped his understanding and became a separate entity, taunting him, driving him over the edge as he gripped his head between his hands. His tail lashed furiously at the air as Kakarot began screaming. His mind was filled with flashes of his past. He saw Fasha teaching him how to walk when he was a baby, feeding him when he still had trouble holding things in his hands. Training him and fighting him, always pushing him to become stronger, always driving him on. She always too care of him and it was thanks to her that he had been ready when Vegeta and Nappa first arrived, it had been thanks to her that he had become so strong, and it was thanks to her that he was a father.

His anger exploded as he remembered Turnia waiting for them back on Earth, waiting for both of them back on Earth. With a scream Kakarot rose in the air to avoid hurting the corpses of his friends in his rage and he begun to flay at the air wildly. He kicked at invisible enemies and punched foes that were not there, his tail felt like it was on fire and his head felt like it was going to split. His power rose higher and higher and he was forced to take his scouter off and destroy to stop it's infernal beeping. In his rage he turned around and his eyes landed on Freeza, who was looking at him with curious and confused eyes, almost worried.

And then Kakarot exploded.

"FREEEEEEEZAAAAAAA!"

00

Bulma sat inside her hidden retreat, holding Turnia close to her chest while she waited for the strange men who roamed around her house to get tired of searching and leave, for the past thirty minutes they had been thrashing her room, searching for who knew what. Finally the found her computer and destroyed and just when they were preparing to leave Turnia gave a tiny cry, and all four ugly heads turned to face her. She held the baby closer to her chest and closed her eyes hoping they would ignore it, but as the door was ripped apart she realized they hadn't. Two rough hands pulled her out and threw her to the floor, and she barely managed to keep Turnia from hitting her head against the ground. What seemed like the leader stood in front of her, looking down at her with a curious face.

He was wearing purple battle armor, and when she reached his waist she realized he was a Saiyan. When she looked up at his face, a wave of both relief and confusion hit her. She rose to her feet and felt both relieved and worried.

"Goku! You're back! What happened? Why are you doing this? Who are this people?"

"Goku?" the man repeated, and Bulma realized this wasn't her friend. "Quite a few people in this place have called me that, is this… Goku by any chance Kakarot?"

"Who… who are you?"

"Ah, where are my manners" he said with mock shame. "My name is Turles."

"Turles?"

"And that…" he said pointing to the baby in her arms, who Bulma clutched even harder against her chest as she took a step back. "Is my future first mate."

"What? You're not taking her!"

"He, he, he, he" Turles laughed as he took a step forward. "Oh, I believe I am."

00

"I won't let you continue. Everything you have done here, it's only the tip of the iceberg. All the decades you have spent ruining and destroying lives… entire planets, civilizations have perished simply so you can sit in your throne and look powerful, but it ends now. You enslaved my race and killed everybody that I have come to love! You spared no one, not even the children… You are the most despicable creature I have ever met. You used us like you used everybody and when you feared us you threw us aside like we were a tool. You think you know us Saiyans from the inside out, but you don't know a damn thing! And now you've taken everything from me… Even what little I had. First Vegeta! Then Raditz! Even, my… my love Fasha! You don't care, I can see that! Their lives mean absolutely nothing to you! You're not in the least bit sorry! Even now, all you can think about is how to destroy me! You seem to delight in seeing other people suffer. And you treat life like a disposable commodity! You destroy homes! You take the lives of innocent, peace loving people that have done absolutely nothing to you! You even take the lives of children! And all of this for your own amusement or personal gain! Well, now, it's your turn!" he screamed as his golden hair swayed with the soft breeze of Planet Namek. His blue green eyes locked on Freeza's red. His golden aura flared wildly and uncontrolled, and his rage knew no bounds.

"Who? Who are you?" the powerful Tyrant asked, terrified for the first time in his life.

"I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the ray of light in the sea of darkness. I am truth! Ally to hope! Nightmare to you! I am Kakarot and I am a Super Saiyan!" he yelled at the Tyrant, his eyes locked with uncontrollable hate. "FOR ALL THE SAIYANS YOU KILLED, ALL THE RACES YOU HAVE ENDED, AND FOR ALL THE NAMEKS YOU DESTROYED! FOR MY BROTHER! FOR MY PRINCE! FOR MY FATHER! AND FOR FASHA! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU! FREEEEEEEEEEEZAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

_00_

_ Chapter 23 Hatred Unbound (Carve)._


	24. Hell Awaits

Chapter 24

Kami watched as Shenron rose into the air, blackening the sky as he gained strength.

"You who have gathered the seven Dragon Balls" he boomed, not recognizing his creator, just like he had made him. "Tell me what you most desire, I shall grant any one wish within my power."

"Shenron! Return to life every single individual that died on Planet Namek because of Freeza and those allied with him and restore the damage that they did to the planet!"

"A simple matter" he boomed as his eyes glowed bright. "It is done. And now, I leave, farewell!"

The seven Dragon Balls rose into the air and turned faster and faster, before shooting off in all directions. With a sigh Kami looked down upon Earth with a grim face. Maybe he should have wished for Earth to be restored to the way it was before the Tree of Might was planted, but if Goku didn't finish Freeza now, there would be no Earth to restore back to normal.

"Finish this business with Freeza now, Goku and return quickly" Kami spoke softly. "We need you here."

00

Fasha stood up and looked down at her body, perfectly healed. Vegeta was standing next to her, his eyes were probably a reflection of how her own looked. To her left she saw Raditz looking at his own hands, dumbfounded.

"Are we dead?"

"I don't think we did enough good deeds to be granted access into heaven" Fasha said as she looked around. "No, we're in Namek!"

"But, how? We… We died!"

"I don't know" she admitted. She was about ask a few more questions for which none of them held the answers when she noticed a familiar face looking at them. "Piccolo?"

The Namek slowly floated towards them, smiling as he held his left side. Behind them, Dende managed to get out of the water and ran towards Piccolo, who placed a gentle hand on his head.

"So, the wish worked" he told the dumbfounded Saiyans.

"What wish?"

"Since the Dragon Balls were reactivated on Earth, Kami wished for everybody that was killed by Freeza to return to life."

"They… they can do that?" the astonished Vegeta asked. "No matter how many people were killed?"

"Yes, any number of people" Piccolo said as he looked at the horizon. "You missed one hell of a show."

"What happened? What are those tiny tremors we're feeling?"

Piccolo snickered and turned to look at them with a mischievous grin on his face. He laughed as he rose in the air and pointed far away at the horizon, where powerful bursts of light and explosions were filling the air.

"Over there" he told them. "Is where Goku and Freeza are fighting."

"WHAT?" Fasha, Raditz and Vegeta yelled at the same time.

"After you three died" Piccolo explained as he went back down, sitting on the ground to conserve more energy. "Goku went insane; he began screaming like a maniac, for a moment I thought he was going to transform into a monkey again."

"Their fighting in equal grounds" Fasha breathed. "Kakarot is matching Freeza blow for blow! I can't believe it! Kakarot's-"

The sky lost all its color and turned completely black, and before Fasha could utter the next two words, the Dragon reappeared in the sky, just a few islands away from where they were.

"We got one more wish!" Raditz remembered. "Move it!"

The five of them were in the island in an instant, and when he saw them approaching the dragon boomed again.

"You, who have gathered the seven Dragon Balls, listen to your heart's desire and tell me your wish. I shall grant any one wish within my power."

"What do we do?"

"Make Kakarot immortal!"

_"NO!"_ a voice they knew very well intervened. The five of them looked around to find the owner of the voice, but only air greeted them. _"Don't make my immortal! I'll show Freeza that I can kill him with my bare hands! He will die by a Saiyan's hand, without the aid of any Dragon God!"_

_ "_Kakarot?"

_"Fasha… I'm glad you're alive. I wish I could see you all, but it's too risky to stay here! Our battle is destroying the Planet! If you stay here you die along with Namek! Wish for everybody on Namek except for Freeza and myself to be transported to Earth immediately!"_

"What? But Kakarot-" Fasha began, only to be cut off.

_"DON'T ARGUE WITH ME! I can't fight at full strength if I have to worry about you! Leave now!"_

Fasha looked at Raditz and Vegeta, who were both undecided about what to do. Raditz and Vegeta would undoubtedly want to see the fight, but Kakarot was right, they would only get in the way.

"He's right… we have to go. Piccolo, tell the Dragon Kakarot's wish."

"No! Make me immortal" Vegeta yelled "I have to kill Freeza myself! I have to!"

"Listen to yourself, fool!" Fasha angrily snapped at him, slapping his face hard. Vegeta almost jumped, but Raditz stood next to her, and he changed his mind. "Kakarot's power is a hundred times your own! And he is holding his own against Freeza! As long as we remain here there is a chance that Kakarot might lose! We have to leave to ensure he wins! If we want to kill Freeza… then we have to go."

Vegeta greeted his teeth and stomped at the ground in anger, but said nothing as Piccolo told Porunga their wish.

"A simple matter. It will be done" he roared, and his eyes glowed brightly.

"Get him for us, Kakarot."

"Make him pay for what he did to this planet."

"Teach what happens when you mess with a Saiyan, little brother!"

"Kill him, Kakarot… Freeza must die by a Saiyan's hand. Kill him!" Vegeta yelled before they were all transported away from Namek.

00

Despite the burning loathing he had on his chest, despite the flashes of white that covered his vision and despite the fight that was going on, Kakarot still noticed the sky turning black, and he added two and two. He yelled at King Kai, who was of course, keeping close tabs on their fight.

_"King Kai!"_

_ "Goku! I'm here!"_

_ "King Kai Freeza is proving stronger than I thought, but I can't beat him without severely damaging the planet, I'm scared we'll blow it up in a fit of rage!"_

_ "What do you need?"_

_ "The Dragon's back! That means the wish back on Earth was made! Fasha and everybody else must be alive, right?"_

_ "Yes, they are."_

_ "Good! Then let me talk to them!"_

Kakarot kept Freeza busy while his mind wandered to his friends. He had to warn them quickly. With his new-found speed, Kakarot raced behind Freeza, grabbed his tail and threw him down to the ground. Racing after him he threw two energy balls at him, hitting him square in the chest and face and at the exact moment he was about to crash, he dashed forward with both fists stretched, pounding him against the ground hard. He grabbed his tail and threw him high in the sky again, and Freeza landed in the green ocean with a cry.

_"DON'T ARGUE WITH ME! I can't fight at full strength if I have to worry about you! Leave now!" _he yelled at them before Freeza emerged from the water, crashing against him with a furious snarl. Hitting and clawing him, Freeza made the mighty Saiyan give ground, and it wasn't until he saw that the sky cleared again that he smiled at the Tyrant. Freeza threw a punch at his face and he grabbed it with his right hand. He threw another in response and Kakarot grabbed it with his left.

"You!" Freeza yelled as he tried to pull his hands free. "You are not stronger than me! I am Freeza, Emperor of the Galaxy! I am the strongest being in the Universe!"

"We'll see about that" he said as he began to press down on Freeza's fists, very slowly increasing pressure. Freeza screamed in pain and pulled back, but he had a firm grip on his fists, and he did nothing. He placed his clawed foot on his chest and pushed with all his might, but still Kakarot would not let him go. He hit him with his tail again and again and did everything he could think off in order to get away from him, but Kakarot didn't let him go until he heard a distinct crunch sound. He then eased his grip somewhat and kicked Freeza's face, sending him backwards, clutching his hands as best he could in pain. "No more holding back."

"What?"

"I didn't want to endanger my friends while they were still here, but now, thanks to the Dragon Balls everybody has been transported to Earth, I can beat you to a pulp with no worries now."

"Me? Beat me to a pulp? You? Poor stupid Saiyan! You honestly think you've won? Your puny mind could never understand! I am Freeza, the most powerful being in the universe! And you are nothing but a beast! A fragile animal! You can't win, because I am mighty! And you are not! Now learn! Learn what happens when you mess with the most powerful being in the universe!" Freeza yelled in a tantrum as he began to charge his energy.

_"Goku! Attack him now! Don't let Freeza reach his full power or it will mean the end of us all"_

"Shut up!" Kakarot yelled. "You have no say in this! Nobody has any say in this! I will kill Freeza my own way! I make the rules from now on, and you and everybody else can go to hell! I will defeat Freeza at his max, I will destroy him when he is at full power! The universe will know the power of the Super Saiyan!"

00

King Kai lowered his head in regret and looked at the three other individuals on his planet, who were looking at him with great interest.

"Goku... No... Kakarot is losing it."

"What? The fight? It can't be! You said he turned into a Super Saiyan!"

"No, not the fight. He is actually in complete control of it, Freeza looks like a child compared to him, but he is acting out of pure instinct, out of pure blood lust. I don't think there's anything left of your friend in there. He is allowing Freeza to reach his full power willingly, he says... he says he wants to destroy Freeza once he has reached his full potential and show the galaxy the power of the Super Saiyan."

"But, that's good! Goku wants to make sure no other bad guys try anything like Freeza did! Right?" Yamcha asked him, and King Kai was silent as he thought hard, reading Kakarot's mind carefully.

"I don't know, his thoughts are clouded by rage, his mind can think of nothing but the battle ahead. Not even his daughter is in his mind now... the Super Saiyan is taking over his mind... I don't know what will happen when the fight ends, but if this keeps up, Kakarot will turn into nothing more than a mindless monster, lusting for battle after battle... he might end up like the Original Super Saiyan, destroying himself with his own power... This is not good."

00

Kakarot's teeth chattered with anger and impatience as Freeza kept charging his energy. His muscles had bulged out as the raw power surged through him, and his veins popped out hard.

"Hurry up!"

"Don't be impatient my foolish monkey friend, once I reach my full potential I will be sure to pummel you to the ground like you seem to wish!"

"You talk to much" Kakarot said as he charged his own energy higher and higher. As Freeza finished charging his power, Kakarot's golden aura stabilized, and he readied himself. "Time to die, Freeza!"

He threw an energy blast after him, and the alien dodged it with relative ease, racing towards Kakarot. He ducked his swing and kicked him up, but instead of flying upwards Freeza did a somersault and got behind him, grabbing him in a full nelson.

"Die, Saiyan!" He yelled as he flew straight to the ground. With his new bulging muscles, Freeza had a firm grip on him, and Kakarot could not break loose. He threw him towards the ground with a kick and he crashed against the blue grass, digging into it. He got up and stopped Freeza's death beam with his bare hand, smiling at the futility of his attack.

"I can't believe how weak your moves are, why would anybody bow down to you?"

With a furious snarl Freeza charged towards him, and Kakarot responded. Blow for blow the two beings fought across all of Namek, ravaging the deserted towns and blowing up the endless blue pastures, entire oceans dried up beneath them as they fired energy blast after energy blast, and Kakarot threw Freeza against the Elder's spire, demolishing the house and bringing the entire rock formation down.

Freeza responded by charging him and punching him down, but Kakarot grabbed his tail and threw him down with all his momentum, sending the tyrant crashing against the ground.

"You will not defeat me!" Freeza yelled as he charged his energy in his hands.

"KA!" Kakarot yelled as he placed his hands together. "ME! HA! ME!"

"You idiot! You realize you will destroy the world with that amount of energy even if you were to stop me!" Freeza told him with a grin, calling his bluff. It was true, if Kakarot fired all the energy he had concentrated on his hands he would destroy the planet they where on. The only way to fight equally without destroying the planet was to lower himself to Freeza's level and fire from there, which would leave him exposed to Freeza's attack. Not a well thought bluff, really.

But Kakarot wasn't bluffing.

"HA!" he yelled as he let loose all his energy at once. The powerful blue beam advance towards Freeza, who horrified, fired his own beam at him. The beam clashed, lifting massive rocks and sending pieces of earth flying in all directions, and while the energy clash seemed even at first, it was clear Kakarot had gained the upper hand. With a scream of pure blood lust and madness, Kakarot added more energy to his attack and pushed Freeza against the ground, smashing the tyrant against it. "DIE! FREEEEEZAAAAAAA!"

With one last push, Kakarot's Kamehameha wave ripped through the planet, burying Freeza in a pile of rubble. With a scream of rage, the emperor managed to create and energy shield around himself and escape the brunt of the attack, but Kakarot's Kamehameha traveled all the way to the inside of the planet's core, and there it exploded.

00

"NO!"

"What happened?"

"Goku, what have you done? You'll both die!"

_"I SAID SHUT UP! FREEZA'S MINE!"_

"H... He's gone."

"Who's gone? Freeza? Did Goku kill him?"

"No, both of them are still alive, but he... Goku just sentenced Planet Namek to death."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"In his rage, Goku... Kakarot fired a Kamehameha wave at Freeza... He didn't measure the consequences of his attack... his... his energy wave reached Planet Namek's core... the planet is dying... The core will explode in a matter of minutes, and the whole planet will follow. Namek has... maybe twenty minutes left before it explodes."

"WHAT? IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! GOKU WOULDN'T DO THAT!"

"I told you three already... that is not your friend down there. He is no longer Goku, the Super Saiyan has taken over. He no longer cares if he lives or dies, all that matters to him now, is killing Freeza with his bare hands. He will win the fight against Freeza, but I fear he will lose the battle against himself."

"But... What can we do?"

"There is nothing we can do, but hope."

00

Kakarot screamed as he punched Freeza again and again in his stomach. He elbowed him away from him and chased after him, drowning him with a barrage of kicks, kicking him at least twenty times before laying a massive punch to his stomach.

"N... no!" Freeza cried before Kakarot elbowed him in the neck, sending the tyrant sprawling into the ground. He jumped up and began charging another attack at him. "How can this be?"

"KA! ME! HA! ME!"

00

"NO! GOKU NO! DON'T DO IT!" King Kai yelled at him, pleading for the first time in his entire existence. "DON'T LOOSE YOURSELF IN YOUR RAGE! YOU'LL DIE WITH HIM!"

00

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

00

Fasha looked around and recognized where they were, not by their surroundings, those were completely alien to her, but by the large building only a few blocks away. It was almost destroyed and large roots covered most of it, but the blue logo was still visible.

"Capsule Corp" Raditz said as he stared at the building, and both Saiyans' eyes went wide.

"TURNIA!" they both yelled as they flew towards the building, breaking into it without the least effort.

"Where is she?"

"Bulma's room!" Fasha yelled as she ran down the stairs and looked into every room. Dead bodies littered the hallways, and she recognized Mr. and Mrs. Brief. While their faces were intact, they each had a large hole in their chest, caused by an energy blast. "What the hell happened here?"

Fasha broke into the last room of this floor, and with great horror found Bulma thrown in the bed, both her legs broken, whimpering softly. With no as much care as she should have, Fasha grabbed Bulma and turned her over.

"Fasha? You're back!" she weakly said, and Fasha was able to see the great amount of blood she had lost. She grabbed her and started running up the stairs, where she met Raditz, who looked at both of them with an anguished face.

"What happened?" She asked her as she ran towards the Nameks. "Who did this? Where's Turnia?"

"I don't know... I thought... Goku."

"What? BULMA WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER?"

00

Goku again punched the weakened Freeza in the stomach. He punched him away and flew after him, giving him a right hook kick to the face. Chasing him one last time, he ax-kicked Freeza's head and sent him crashing down to the ground. Another explosion rocked the planet and a burst of lava rushed forth a few miles away from where they were. The ground opened up and the ocean began to drain into it, pouring like a waterfall into the cracks.

"I won't die here! You can't beat me!" Freeza yelled in frustration at his inability to hurt him. "I am the strongest in the universe! I rule the galaxy and every living creature is my servant! You are nothing but an insect, you are only fit to grovel at my feet, or better yet, to die! AT THE WHIM OF YOUR MASTER!"

"YOU FOOL!" Kakarot yelled as he fired his own Kamehameha at the energy attack Freeza threw at him, and the beams clashed again. Despite his rage, Kakarot could not help but feel pity for Freeza. So weak, so delusional, so confused. He had been played a cruel hand. He had been made believe that he was the strongest that there was, that he had the right to rule over everyone because he was the strongest, and because of that he was suffering now. Without even exerting himself, Kakarot pushed harder and consumed Freeza's blast with his own, and he heard one last scream as he lowered his energy beam, consuming Freeza's legs and lower half.

Kakarot landed on the now barren ground and walked towards Freeza calmly, looking at him in disgust as he whimpered softly in the ground.

"No" he said as he clutched his fist in anger. "I am the strongest in the universe! Why? Why is this happening?"

"You reap what you sow, Freeza. You were born with great power over the rest, and instead of helping them you used it to stomp over them. You ruined countless lives over the years, and you expected for it to never come back to haunt you? You thought you were the strongest there ever was and ever would be... you poor delusional fool..."

"This can't be happening! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

"It is happening, Freeza. Ever since I was born Fasha has been training me to kill you. It has been my purpose ever since I was born... to kill you... and avenge my race."

"It can't be, it' can't be" Freeza repeated over and over in a soft voice, while Kakarot looked on.

"But I won't."

"Uh?" Freeza said, looking at him with his red eyes.

"I won't kill you... Not here, not now. Better for you to live in the shame of knowing that there is somebody out there better than you. Better for you to live in fear, like so many people did because of you" Kakarot said as he crouched and grabbed the Tyrant's cheeks, lifting his head to meet his gaze. "Better you live knowing that I beat you, that you were surpassed, and worst of all" he added with a grin. "By a monkey."

And with that Kakarot let go of Freeza's cheeks, threw a tiny energy ball contain just enough energy for him to make it to his space ship. Walking away he heard a tiny whimper behind him.

"No... I am... no, no, no!"

He ignored the defeated Tyrant and kept walking rising in the air slowly as he felt his rage receded. He might have not killed Freeza, but this was better. This hurt him more than death, this was a blow from which he would never recover.

Kakarot's rage receded and Goku began looking for his spaceship, turning his head round and round, the rivers of lava began to flow from what once had been lakes, and he felt a pang of guilt as he remembered what he had done. It was his fault Namek was like this, he had destroyed this planet... and he would have to pay for it.

"Over there" he muttered as he finally found something he recognized. He flew that way, taking his time and looking at the scenario below him when he felt an energy blast hit him in the back. He turned around and watched how the furious Freeza charged another blast, his legs and tail scorched brown by his attack. "Stubborn to the point of being a fool."

"I'll kill you... I'll kill you! YOU MUST BE KILLED BY ME!" he yelled in a blind rage as he threw the weak energy blast at him. Goku took it head on, not even bothering to close his eyes at the attack and with a sigh he floated towards him, his face a few centimeters away from Freeza's. Despite knowing it was his death, the alien stared at him defiantly, begging for it. He did not want to live with the shame. Kakarot might have been cruel enough to let him live, but Goku was not going to make him suffer like that, and he placed his hand on Freeza's purple dome.

"You put up a good fight" he lied before he blasted Freeza's dome right out of his skull with a small energy blast. Not feeling drained in the least, Goku continued flying in the direction of his space ship, reaching it after only a few minutes. He went inside and began powering it up, only to discover it had little energy. "Damn it... not enough to reach Earth... Damn it!"

Another explosion rocked the ground and he fell down, realizing that he wouldn't be able to escape in this shape, he got out and began looking for another way. He flew as fast as he could, crossing entire continents in seconds, but to no avail, there was nothing on the planet, the few parts that were not complete desolate were the deserted villages.

_"Goku! Use Freeza's spaceship!"_

"Who? King Kai! Where is it?"

_"North of your position, about a hundred miles! GO!"_

"Thanks!" he yelled as he dashed forward, adjusting his position so he flew north. He reached the ship quickly, and he entered it, furiously looking for the bridge. He finally found it and began tickling with the computers, but he didn't understand the language and his frustration he smacked the control board, smashing it into pieces. "Damn it... This won't do! What can I do?"

00

King Kai was silent as he watched Goku pressing random buttons on the control pad, only to furiously smash them into pieces.

"King Kai! What's going on? Is Freeza dead?"

"Freeza's dead, but Goku... he won't make off Namek in time."

"No... You mean, he'll die there?" Krillin asked, taking a step forward and looking at King Kai with pleading eyes.

"I'm afraid so... it seems in his fury he destroyed himself. He might have regained control in the end, but it was too late. Kakarot dug Goku's grave."

"But... but it can't be! Goku can't... It can't be!"

00

Goku watched from above how the opening ground swallowed Freeza's spaceship completely, leaving him without a means of transport. His frustration grew as he cursed himself. For all his might he still felt helpless, at the mercy of the powers of nature. A large burst of lava came forth from the ground, almost burning him, but he didn't notice, there was no hope, he couldn't escape. Just like Freeza, he was going to die here.

"No... NO! DAMN IT, NO!" he yelled as the lava rose higher and higher and the planet shook wildly. "DAMN IT! TURNIAAAAAAA!"

And Namek exploded.

_00_

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 24 Hell Awaits (Slayer) On Freeza's and Kakarot's future._

_ What happened on Earth? What is Turles plan? And where the fuck is Turnia?_

_ We've reached the end of the Freeza Saga! What do you think? Did you like it? Didn't you? Please tell me what you think, and thank you so much for reading!_


	25. A New World

Chapter 25

"I found them!" Bulma yelled as she keyed away at her computer furiously. "Wow, they're far away."

"Where are they?" Fasha roughly asked, clenching her teeth in anger.

"I'm uploading the Coordinates to your space pods now... Right, good to go" Bulma said as she combed her hair behind her ear with the same guilty look that hadn't abandoned her face ever since she first saw Fasha. "Are you... sure? I mean, shouldn't you wait for Goku?"

"I don't even know if Kakarot is coming back!" Fasha shouted in anger. "But what I know is that that bastard has my daughter, and he doesn't get to keep her. I don't care who he is."

"You sure you don't want me to go with you?" Raditz told her for the fifth time, and Fasha sincerely thanked him every time he said it.

"No, Raditz. I told you, Earth is vulnerable. It's up to you to keep things somewhat in order for the next few months until the Dragon Balls can be used again."

The Saiyan scoffed and wrapped his tail around his waist, angry at the fact that he had to remain behind and babysit the planet.

"Fine."

"Think about this, Vegeta might want to cause trouble" she told him with a wink as she left the room. "If he does, give him a nice thrashing for me will you?"

"What about the Nameks? There's no water here! What do we do in the meantime?" Bulma asked as she stood up. "Who knows how long it'll take you to come back? And what about Goku?"

Fasha stopped in mid-air and turned around, looking at both of them with surprised eyes, realizing that things weren't as simple as she thought.

"Has the corruption spread through the entire world?"

"Yes, every single tree has died, everything in this planet is dead!"

"Mmm... Not every single tree" she said as she turned around and shot like a bullet. "I'll be right back!"

"Where is she going?"

"The one place in this planet that might still have trees" Raditz said as she sat down on her bed and looked between at her feet.

"I can't believe this is happening" she said as she closed her eyes. "I can't believe he took her."

"It's not your fault" Raditz told her. Despite the fact his trademark scowl was on his face, he didn't feel as bad about his niece's fate. Fasha was going after her, and from what little he knew about Turles, he was a defector of the Saiyan army, he had been a low class warrior. Sure, time might have made him stronger, but Fasha's power was similar to Freeza's second form by now, she would easily crush him and bring Turnia back. "You're not a fighter, there really was nothing you could have done to stop them."

"I know but... still I-"

"Enough! We have to think about what to do with these people" he said as he looked down at the Nameks, speaking in a circle, surrounding Piccolo and the Elder. "I'm going to go talk to them, we need to find a way to get them a large supply of water... they might be here for a while."

"We have water in our underground shelter and our own pump, but it won't last forever."

"How much?"

"We had enough to last for a month for about one hundred people, including watering the plants everyday, but they're dead now, so I we won't need that... Counting the Nameks and... you guys and leaving out the plants... maybe three months and a half? Four?"

"It'll do" Raditz said as he jumped out the window and left her alone.

00

Piccolo turned around and looked at Raditz, who had landed behind him.

"Where's Fasha?"

"Gone, looking for water. So what are you gonna do?" he asked as he sat down next to Dende and patted his back softly, earning a soft smile from the Namek.

"We're currently discussing that" Piccolo said as he turned to look at the Elder. "The Elder cannot move, which means we will stay here for the moment, until he dies."

"How long does he have?"

"A few hours, maybe another day... not long at any rate."

"Raditz" the enormous Namek said softly, and he looked up.

"What's up?"

"You saved us, and our world" he spoke softly. "You have my eternal thanks."

"Ah, don't thank me" he said as he laid down on the ground. "It was this planet's green guy and Piccolo that got you all here, not me."

"Regardless" he continued. "It is because of you that many of us are alive, and you personally ensured Dende returned to me... I will not forget this."

"Any time" Raditz answered with a thumbs up before he placed his hands beneath his head, crossing his fingers and closing his eyes. "So what are you going to do? You're going to die soon, ain't you?" he asked, oblivious to the numerous looks the Names threw at his lack of sensitivity. The elder laughed softly and answered him.

"I have lived a long, good life" he said softly. "And I can die in peace knowing that my children are safe. I fear for your planet, however" he continued, and his voice turned very serious and grave. "What has been done here cannot be restored, not even with the Dragon Balls... I do not know how this planet will ever return to what it was."

"Ah, at least we'll have a battlefield to play around in" Raditz mumbled, again oblivious to the look Piccolo threw at him.

"The person that did this... he is powerful."

"How can you tell?"

"He left his mark here... he is pure evil, just like Freeza was."

"That's Turles for you, real evil son of a bitch. There's nothing to worry about though, Fasha's going to kick his ass and hand it to him in a silver platter."

"It is good that you have such confidence in her strength... there is another thing I would like to discuss with you" the Elder said, before he turned his head and opened his eyes, the first time Raditz had even seen him do so. "What will happen now... to Vegeta?"

"Oh, his royal magnificence is here!" Raditz remembered as he stood up and looked at the Saiyan Prince, sitting with his back next to a tree and his arms crossed. "Oh, what to do with him, what to do with him? So Vegeta? What are you going to do now?"

"What do you care, fool?"

"Well, considering I've been in this planet longer, I think I have the right to know what you're doing on it. But if you want to keep having that stick up your ass that's fine. So, Piccolo? What do we do with him?"

"He killed a lot of my people. People that won't be revived by the Dragon Balls any more."

"Right, the time period will be gone by the time the Dragon Balls are ready again" Raditz said as he looked at the seven stone spheres laying next to the Elder. "That's gotta sting doesn't it?"

"He should pay for what he has done."

"And he will" The Elder interrupted them both, and even Vegeta looked at him. "But it is not your place to judge him. He will be judged justly when he dies. His crimes are terrible, they cling to him, they rot him, but we will not be the ones to judge him for them."

"What do you mean, Elder?"

"Vegeta... cannot hurt my people any more. Vegeta is no longer a threat to us, and I can feel a slight change in him. He is not the same person he was when he first arrived on Namek. Am I right... Vegeta?"

"You know nothing about me" Vegeta answered with a scowl.

"I know plenty about you" he answered. "I have seen how you treated your comrades, I have seen what you thought about your father, I have seen what you felt about Freeza. I have looked deep inside your mind and I have found your deepest desires... and they are hollow" The elder explained, and Vegeta looked at him with confusion plaguing his eyes. Raditz had a smile as wide as it would go. "Tell me, Prince Vegeta... how will you get rid of the guilt that plagues you? How will you remove the stains from your soul... how will you live with yourself now, having lived through what you experienced in my planet?" he said out loud. _"How will you live, knowing what you know now, Prince Vegeta?_

Raditz expected the prince to fly off in the distance, to angrily snap and insult the elder, to try to blow him up or any of his usual responses, but he did none of that. He answered very calmly, and with an unusual tone on his voice.

"I don't know" he said as he looked down at the ground. "But that is my business, isn't it?"

"Indeed, child. Indeed it is. Do not punish him, Raditz, Piccolo. He will punish himself, he will pay for his crimes on his own way, for he has felt first-hand the pain he has caused onto others."

"So, what are you going to do, Vegeta?" Raditz asked again, looking at him with a grin. "I may have done pretty bad things when I was with you as well, but at least I'm doing something to make up for it. You up for some community service?"

"Community service?"

"Right" he added with a grin. "Picking up the trash, helping old ladies cross the road, things like that" Raditz explained with a smile almost too large for his face. "As you can see, this planet is pretty fucked-up, no plants, no water, dying animals, no energy... and no way out."

Vegeta looked at him and uncrossed his arms.

"What?"

"That's right, your highness, you're stuck here, with all of us, you're going to have to live with all of us" Raditz laughed, lifting his arms at his sides, palms facing Vegeta. "Welcome to hell, Prince Vegeta!"

00

Fasha looked down at Earth. The once lush green planet was now a single ball of dirt. Where entire forests had been, only deserts and wastelands remained. She could not see as much as Kami could, but what she saw was enough.

"Will Shenron be able to fix this?"

"No... no he won't. As long as the tree lives on this planet, it will continue to drain it and prevent it's recovery... And the Tree of Might is eternal."

"What can we do then? Water is in extremely short supply. Bulma has some, but it won't last forever. Most animals will be gone by the end of the month... food will be gone... How many humans are left alive?"

Kami clutched his cane and gritted his old teeth in anger.

"Very few... less than a hundred... those not killed by Turles and his men turned on each other in a matter of hours... even more will die soon."

"What about the Nameks? Can we bring them here?"

"Yes. My people can stay with me until the Dragon Balls are functional again."

"Tell me" Fasha said, crossing her arms and looking at the pale grey sky. "Among those humans still alive... is there one called... Roshi? He trained Kakarot."

"Yes... the human still lives, he is eternal... The human helping Korin is also alive and well."

"Figures... Fine then. I'll leave them in Capsule Corp. and tell the Nameks they can come here."

"Piccolo has changed" Kami said when she was about to leave. "He seems much more patient now... calm."

"I didn't get the whole story" she said as she floated in mid-air. "All I know is that he fused with somebody, Raditz can tell you more."

"I will ask Piccolo directly."

"Fine, ask me if I care" she said as she flew away.

00

Turles smiled as he gave Turnia a tiny tiny piece of the fruit, which she ate greedily. His scouter beeped.

339.

"Not even one year old" he muttered as he ate another piece of the fruit himself. "You're going to be strong, little girl."

00

The lookout was crowded to say the least, but at least they wouldn't go thirsty. Kami and the Elder has been speaking for hours, it was the first time Piccolo had seen Kami looking humbled and in awe. The Elder had known their father, after all.

Piccolo sat down as he began meditating, he looked at himself and re-examined the changes fusing with Nail had brought. He wasn't particularly happy about it, but it didn't bother him either. Impatience, which had been his greatest flaw, was gone, he had learned a thing or two about respect but what changed the most was the way he thought about fighting. When he had been born, fighting, killing and destroying had been all he could think about. The time he had spent with Son Goku had changed him somewhat, he still liked fighting, but not in the same way as before. But now, fighting didn't hold the same appeal. He would fight if necessary, of course, but it didn't feel as fun as it was before.

It didn't matter, he had more pressing things to think about.

00

_"How will you live, knowing what you know now, Prince Vegeta?"_

"I'm going with you."

"What?"

"I'm going with you" Vegeta repeated as he entered the cave.

"Why?" she asked, taking her eyes off the space pods and looking at him.

"Does it matter? You need help don't you?"

Without answering she pointed at the other space pod, half hidden away inside the cave and Vegeta walked towards it, opening the control panel and checking the signals. He gave her a thumbs up and punched in the coordinates into the computer. They both carefully took the space pods out and placed them next to each other.

"To be honest I don't want you anywhere near my daughter" Fasha finally said.

"I know, but Turles wasn't alone, which means you're going to have to fight his men to get to her, and he fights dirty, he might use her as hostage. You need help and I don't think you trust me enough to leave me here alone, am I right?"

"Right... How do you know of him?"

"I heard of his defection when my father was informed about it, shortly before I was given to Freeza" Vegeta spat out as he sat inside the space pod. " That wasn't the first report he got from him. Bad conduct on Planet Vegeta, disrespecting superiors, not following orders, damaging valuable equipment. You get the idea."

"Why wasn't he killed? King Vegeta wasn't particularly forgiving with his subjects."

"His success rate. From day one Turles never failed a single mission. I think he's the only Saiyan that had a perfect success rate in the entire army."

"How come?"

"He used some... questionable tactics. He sometimes infiltrated the planet pretending to be wounded. He would sometimes kidnap an important figure and trick the people into surrendering before he killed them all. He once actually posed as a member of the 'Galactic Police' and told the natives they were in imminent danger of a meteor crashing against their planet, when most of them got into space ships he blew them right off the sky."

"Disgusting" Fasha said as she entered her space pod, closing the door behind her. She turned on the communicator and got as comfortable as possible. "I can't stand the thought of him having my daughter... we got to find him and kill him quickly."

"We don't know how strong he's gotten, and given the surprises you three gave me I wouldn't be reckless."

"Reckless my ass, I'm going to rip his arms out and beat him to death with them before taking my daughter back."

"And if she's dead?"

As the space pods exited Earth's atmosphere, the pod's stasis system kicked in, and both Saiyans began to feel drowsy. Vegeta barely heard Fasha's answer.

"Then Turles is going to see what happens when you anger a Saiyan woman."

00

Raditz lifted the last rock and threw it towards the entrance of their makeshift camp. With one hand he lifted one boulder and with the other he pushed the rocks he had already thrown, he made the closest thing to an entrance and made sure the entire place was surrounded and that there was no other way in. As he flew above the compound, the truth was that there were plenty of other ways in, but he was bored of pushing rocks around. He flew inside and landed next to Bulma, who was still typing away in her computer, figuring out how much power they had, for long the water would last, and some other logistic's that made Raditz' head hurt simply by listening to her.

"How's it coming?"

"Fine... Did you finish?"

"Yeah, yeah" he replied as he sat down on the bed and took off his boots.

"And are there no other entrances?"

"Yes!"

"Did you make sure?"

"Damn it, woman! I said I'm done!"

"Jeez" Bulma muttered as she went back to her computer. By the time she finished Raditz was snoring peacefully on her bed, with the covers half wrapped around him, taking up more than three fourths of the bed. She angrily pushed him away and grabbed her own covers, throwing herself in bed as far away from him as possible. Who was he to just fall asleep in her bed? Just cause she had let those two stay here it didn't mean they could do what they wanted.

She sighed as she looked up at the ceiling, thinking about what had happened. It was strange, she had only spent about a week with her, and yet Turnia's kidnapping was what hurt her most. Seeing the little baby girl crying while those disgusting aliens hit her and threw her around the room was the worst things that had ever happened to her. She gingerly touched her nose, remembering how it had been completely smashed by those little purple men. The image of Turnia haunted her for a long time until she finally fell asleep.

When she woke Raditz was already gone, and having nothing else to do she stayed in bed, wrapping the covers around herself as tight as she could, feeling somewhat shielded by them. She heard Master Roshi on the top floor, walking around the house aimlessly, searching the rooms for anything interesting.

"Millions of humans living on Earth and I'm stuck with the biggest pervert of them all" she muttered as she covered her head and tried to fall asleep.

00

Raditz threw the dead cow at the pile he had been building for the past hour, at least sixty dead animals , including cows, dragons, rats, chickens, pigs, dogs, cats, dinosaurs, and foxes. He took out the capsule, pressed the button and threw it at the ground, and the massive cooler appeared. He then through all the creatures inside and checked it's capacity, halfway there.

"Mmm... that's gonna last for a week at best" he said as he took another bite of the last orange that he had found at Bulma's house. "Hope that old geezer doesn't eat much."

He shrunk the capsule and flew back home, keeping his eyes peeled as he flew, hoping to have missed a herd or something, but no such luck, Earth was truly barren. He was halfway there when he heard a tiny noise below. He stopped in mid air and saw a young woman sitting under a dead tree and crying softly. She had long jet black hair that was partially covered by her pink and black helmet and black eyes. She was wearing a blue armor that left all her stomach, her arms, her chest and most of her back exposed, her lower armor consisted of nothing more than a blue triangular piece of cloth that left all her legs exposed. She had pink boots and pink gloves, and a turquoise cape that she was wrapping around herself to protect her body from the harsh desert winds. She looked famished and frightened. The corpse of an extremely large man was a few meters from where she was huddling, and Raditz imaged it was somebody she knew.

Curiosity filled him and he dropped from the sky, landing a few feet from her.

"Ah, get away from me!" she yelled. Faster than he would have expected she got up and pressed a button on her helmet. A bright green beam shot from it and Raditz barely dodged it as it cut through the air, leaving a faint trail of smoke. He shot her an angry look and was about to open his mouth when she grabbed the blade sticking out of her helmet and threw it at him. The razor sharp blade flew towards him and he angrily grabbed it and broke it in half. The girl's eyes opened up and she looked at Raditz in fear. He threw the broken pieces of metal aside and took a step towards her. "Please don't kill me!"

"Are you done?"

"What?"

"Why the hell did you attack me? Do you try to kill everybody you meet?" he asked her, and perhaps, as an ironic twist of fate, Raditz remembered the first time he had landed on Earth. He remembered the scared farmer and how he had destroyed his truck with his bullet. Snickering, Raditz continued. "Never mind. I'm surprised to see another human, I thought they were all dead. What's your name?"

"I... I... I..."

"That's an odd name, even for humans... You want to come with me? Me and some other people got a little refuge like thing going."

"What? No! Get away from me!" the young woman said as she hid behind the tree, peeking at him. With a sigh he rolled his eyes and started to walk away.

"I can see you got other important business to attend to, so I'll just leave you alone and eat all this food by myself" he said patting the tiny capsule on his belt. He was about to take off when he heard a tiny whimper. He turned around and saw that the girl had exited her hiding place and was looking at him with fresh tears in her eyes. Rolling his eyes again Raditz waited for her to say something.

"Chi-Chi" she finally said. Raditz raised his eyebrow. "That's my name."

"Right. You want to come with me? There's only three of us living in Capsule Corp. and none of them are fighters, you seem to be... something that somewhat resembles a fighter and I could use somebody to spar with."

"I... fight? But..."

"Ah whatever, you're probably pretty weak anyway. Do you want to come or not?"

"Yes" she finally said. "Where's your car?"

"Car?"

"Yeah, you don't have one?"

"No" he said as he walked towards her. She tensed when he stretched his hands and did not move. "What are you waiting for?"

"What?"

"Jump!"

"What? Where?"

"Damn it, you're dense. In my arms, I don't drive and I'm not going to walk all the way, I'm flying."

"Fly- Flying?" she repeated.

"Damn it" Raditz cursed as he grabbed her cloak and took off. The trip took about one hour, and for the entire sixty minutes the damn girl did not shut up. She screamed and sobbed and cried and yelled that she was going to die and begged him to put her down and then to grab her firmly and then to put her down again. Raditz wished he was deaf. "We're here."

"What?" she sobbed.

"We are here" he repeated as he landed on the roof of the domed building. He placed her on the roof, grabbed her waist and before she could protest, jumped down to the ground. She again screamed like a maniac until the moment they landed and still sobbing, Raditz dropped her and went inside. "Bulma! I got food!"

The blue woman ran towards him, hugged him tightly and kissed his cheek before snatching the capsule away from him and running to the kitchen. She threw it and opened the gigantic freezer while Raditz looked on.

With a disgusted face she pulled out a chicken. It clucked in her hand and she dropped in with a scream of horror and disgust. Human women screamed so much, Raditz thought as he rubbed his temples. He fired a diminutive beam at the chicken's head and it died quickly.

"What the hell did you bring?" she asked as she saw the humongous purple tail in the middle of the cooler.

"What I could find, I don't know if you noticed but food's a little hard to find."

"I guess... thanks" she said as she grabbed the now dead chicken.

"Oh, I found a girl, I think she's outside" he said as he went down the stairs.

"What? Oh another person, good! Wait, you left her alone? And where are you going?"

"To sleep!" he snarled at her as he entered her room and threw himself in the bed.

"That's my room!" she screamed at him but went outside to look for the girl Raditz had mentioned.

"I do not give a single fuck" he muttered as he fell asleep.

_00_

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 25 A New World (Arise) on Earth's bleak situation._

_ First chapter in which Kakarot/Goku doesn't appear since the first one!_

_ I should make clear for you people cause my friends (who read this before you all do) all thought that Raditz has some sort of crush on Bulma, ignoring his last line. Raditz isn't sleeping with Bulma because he has a crush on her or something. He simply does not give one fuck where he sleeps and Bulma's room is the first one he reaches, so that's why he sleeps there. :) But I'm not saying that they might not end up paired, they might... or not, I don't know yet, Raditz and Bulma haven't made up their minds, I'll let you know when that happens._

_ Chi-Chi is around 15 or 16 at this moment._

_ The reason why I included Roshi will be revealed later :p I'm just saying it's not just to fill some room there._

_ Vegeta's having a change of heart here, while he is still not the softie he was in the buu saga, he has realized what it means to have no hope of survival, and as such he has sympathised with all the races he killed. Old habits die hard, how ever, so except some old fashioned Vegeta to pop up._

_ Thanks for reading!_


	26. Secret Agent

Chapter 26

_ "You are the prince, my son" King Vegeta said, walking through the palace with authority only the most powerful Saiyan could have. "One day you will rule our race, you were born with the power to do so. You will soon surpass even myself in strength, I know it, and you will lead the Saiyans into a bright new age, one free from Freeza's grasp, one free of any holds, one free of any restrictions. I know you have it in you."_

_ "I'm the prince" the four year old repeated, doing his best to walk with his much taller father. "I'll do it, father! I promise, I'll do it!"_

_ "Always remember, Vegeta" his father said, kneeling in front of him, his eyes serious. "As prince your authority is second only to mine. You have absolute command over the Saiyan race. Listen to them Vegeta, they cry out for leadership, you must be strong, because they need you, you must be ruthless, because they are stupid, you must be powerful, because they will test you again and again, wanting to prove if you are indeed the one to lead them. Do you understand?"_

_ "I... I think I do. I have to be strong, because they can't rule themselves, I have to be strong so they'll do as I say?"_

_ "Now you're understanding" he told him as he rose and kept walking, Vegeta again walking as fast as his little legs allowed him._

_ "What if one of them won't do what I say?"_

_ "Then you kill him, and you make him an example" his father answered, keeping his face straight but smiling inward, proud of his son for asking the right questions. "Your rule is absolute Vegeta, and anybody that questions it does not have a place in our planet. Just remember that being cruel to a single person is sometimes what needs to be done in order to protect your people. That is also why you must be the strongest Saiyan, to both kill and save them when you need to."_

_ "To kill... and save..." the tiny Saiyan repeated, his brain hurting from so much thinking. "I get it."_

00

"I'm the prince of all Saiyans" Vegeta muttered as he saw Turles' spaceship in the distance. "I'm the prince of all Saiyans... Damn it... Damn it! I can't believe this... what a fool I've been... The Prince of all Saiyans... I was nothing more than a puppet... but no more..."

He turned on his side of the communicator and waited for Fasha to wake up. After half a minute he heard some slight groaning and soon her serious voice came through.

"Alright, this is going to be a rough landing!" Fasha warned him as they both dropped their cloaking shields and got near the ship. "Is your computer all programmed?"

"Yes... Remember the plan?"

"I got the plan, just make sure you do your part."

"Don't worry about it, I'm going to have fun ripping those fools apart" he answered. "Just try to leave something of Turles so that I can beat him for a while."

"No promises there... Vegeta" she told him with a different tone.

"What?"

"I don't know why you're doing this... but thanks."

He didn't answer as their pods crashed against the large ship's escape pods, crushing them completely and ensuring Turles had nowhere to go. The airlock immediately kicked in and both Saiyans got out of their space pods, quickly checking their surroundings. The alarm was whining loudly, but other than that it was clear, the ship had no cameras, at least in this area. Vegeta raised his hand and sent a weak blast at the metal door, ripping it off it's hinges. On the other side of the ship, Fasha did the same thing and ran out, he heard a few screams of pain as she made her way through the ship, quickly killing anybody that got in her way. Grinning, Vegeta did the same thing and crept through the metal hallway, killing a few curios aliens and weak guards with quick punches or energy blasts, making sure to not waste much energy on them.

"Make way for the Prince" he yelled with a grin as he sent a ki blast down the narrow hallway. Two weak guards fell down to the ground and he shot them both with his finger. Looking up Vegeta spotted a small camera looking at him and he smiled at it, aiming his finger at it. "Is this how you receive your prince, Turles? Not even a challenge? You should be ashamed of yourself."

Vegeta fired, and the camera exploded with a weak puff.

00

The plan was simple, split up and deal with two parts of the ship. Vegeta would head to the barracks and hold most of Turles' men, while she wold head straight to the bridge, deactivate the ship and head to Turles' chambers. He would either have Turnia there with him or she would beat him to death to find out where she was.

But as she ran down the catwalk she began to worry, this didn't look anything like Freeza's or a Saiyan ship, this was completely different, instead of having the bridge and the Captain's quarters above the ship, it was below, but she wasn't sure of that.

She opened the last door on the left and found five aliens getting into their armor. None of them was Turles. The dim green light bathed them all, but Fasha was able to clearly see them all.

"Wrong door" she muttered as she shot the two, tiny purple aliens with her finger and kicked the closest alien, sending the three of them that still lived down to the floor. In the tiny quarters they had no mobility whatsoever and Fasha shot the three of them before they had a chance to get up. "Damn it... where the hell is the bridge?"

00

Vegeta opened the last door and with narrow eyes he made sure the bridge was empty and stepped in. The strange computer beeped and hummed softly as he walked past them. In the middle of the bridge there was what looked like a throne, with strange carvings on it, stolen most likely.

"Aren't you pretentious, Turles."

"Why shouldn't I?" a voice from behind spoke, and the Saiyan defector emerged from the shadows. "I've earned it, my men consider me their king, and I treat them better than your father ever treated us."

"Is that why you left? Why you run like a coward? Is that why you left our army and looked for this pathetic excuse for a ship, Turles?"

"That's Captain Turles for you, Vegeta."

"That's Prince Vegeta for you, Turles" Vegeta shot back with amusement. Vegeta looked at the traitor with a wary eye, he was wearing the trademark battle armor. It was similar to the one Raditz' had worn, colored a weird grayish-purplish color. A color Vegeta knew was not among the army's. Turles had most likely changed it later on his pirate career. On top of it, and hiding half of it he was wearing a bright, white cape. "You're kidding me with the cape right?"

"I remember you wearing one" Turles answered with a slight tone on his voice.

"I was a young boy, I was an idiot" he told him. "But I guess that applies to you as well."

"Always the arrogant, even as a child you thought the world was just supposed to lay at your feet and let you trample it as you wished."

"I've changed somewhat" Vegeta admitted as he spread his legs slightly. "For one, I've gotten much stronger."

"Oh, and where are you going to show me?" Turles said, laughing. "Here in the bridge with all the sensitive equipment nearby? Or perhaps in the engine room?"

Vegeta gritted his teeth in anger and clenched his fists, Turles was right. He couldn't use his full power inside the ship, or he might blow it all up. He would have to be very, very careful.

"I don't need any fancy energy attacks to beat you, I'll take you down with my bare hands."

"Says the smaller, thinner Saiyan" Turles said as he ripped his white cape off and threw it to the ground. Vegeta instantly knew he had the advantage. Turles was at least half a head taller than him, and he must have weighted at least fifteen kilograms more than he did. "In a fist fight I won't even have to try to beat you."

"I'll make you eat those words, traitor."

Turles ran towards him and kneed his stomach, but while Vegeta couldn't use any power attacks, he could spread his energy to his body and make himself tougher. He punched Turles face and kicked him twice, pushing the taller Saiyan back. In the last second, Turles managed to grab his leg and he elbowed it hard, almost breaking it despite Vegeta's power. He managed to pry himself free and he took a step back. He charged some more energy and took a step forward, throwing a careful jab at Turles, followed by a quick uppercut and an even faster sweep kick, knocking him off his feet. He punched his stomach and was about to hit his face when Turles grabbed his hand on his larger one, crushing it slowly. He then threw another fist and again Turles grabbed it, raising his power level higher and higher. Vegeta in response redirected his energy to his legs. With a tiny jump, he placed his legs in Turles' chest and kicked off, doing a quick somersault and landing a few meters away from him. Turles got up and laughed walking in a circle around him.

00

Fasha watched how Vegeta got beaten by the larger Saiyan in their brutal fist fight with arms crossed, expecting him to give up and fall back, or to at least shot at Turles or get back to the space pods and leave her, but he did neither, he kept getting up and fighting, until blood was bursting out of his mouth and forehead, and his eye was swollen shut. Fasha watched the screen with great interest as Vegeta managed to get the upper hand, jumping up and landing a solid kick on Turles' face, before focusing his energy on his hand and punching him in the stomach and elbowing him in the back. Vegeta kicked Turles away and he crashed against the metal wall, and deciding she had seen enough she raced to where the two Saiyans were fighting.

00

Turles grabbed him by his hair and punched his face, sending him flying against the cold steel wall. He missed the sharp corner of the wall by and inch, and barely managed to get out of the way as Turles kneed the wall where he had been a second ago. He used both hands to stop his kick and elbowed his leg like Turles had done. Both of them were breathing heavily, and they took a quick break, taking a few steps away from each other. Both Saiyans had a large smile on their face, their armors were stained with blood, and they were both a few punches away from passing out. Vegeta was about to make his move when the door opened, and the very pissed Fasha stepped through the door.

"You have something of mine" she menacingly told Turles as she stepped forward. The tired Saiyan looked at both of them, taking a few steps back to maintain both of them on his field of view.

"Damn, I thought I had gotten much stronger, but you two are even stronger than me" Turles said as he raised his arms, preparing to block any of Fasha's attacks.

"Give me my daughter and you'll die quickly" she told him as she took another step and pointed her finger at him.

"And what will you do with her? Stay on that pathetic planet? Live among what few humans are left? Are you going to make that the new Planet Vegeta? Please, she's much better off with me" he mumbled. "I haven't forgotten what it's like to be a Saiyan. I've conquered more planets than both of you combined!"

"And that makes you the perfect Saiyan?" Fasha scoffed at him. "Give me my daughter back now or I will do something worse than kill you."

"What remove my tail? Humiliate me? You got nothing on me."

"I'll beat you until you can't move, I'm going to take you back to Earth, and I'm going to give you to Kakarot, and he's going to show you what true fear is" she told him without hesitating.

"You'll have to kill me" Turles said as aimed his hand at the bridge's viewing deck, laughing maniacally. "I'm not handing her to you two!"

Fasha fired her thin pink laser at him, hitting him straight in the head, but Turles managed to fire his blast, and it collided against the thick glass, breaking it. The shock was monumental. Fasha raced towards Vegeta and grabbed him, flying as fast as she could towards the captain's deck. The suction pulled at her body and her skin, threatening to rip it open, her muscles burned as she exposed all her energy at once, and she barely managed to reach the inside of the hallway before the blast doors closed. Vegeta grunted and coughed as he tried to stand up.

"Son of a bitch" he muttered as he grabbed and exposed cable and pulled himself up. Fasha looked at him with new eyes that did not escape his notice. "What?"

"Why did you keep fighting? You had ever chance to walk away and leave me here."

"Why would I have done that?" Vegeta angrily asked her. "I was fighting! I don't run away from a fight... anymore" he added when Fasha gave him that smirk of hers. "Besides... A Prince lives for his people, right?"

Fasha's violet eyes seemed to glow under the pale green light and without answering she finally turned around and began walking down the hallway, her boots clicking against the metal catwalk.

"Where are we?"

"Looks like the lower deck, this must be the way to Turles' room" Vegeta said as he held his arm, walking beside her. There was nobody else there, and only the hum of the ship kept them company. Fasha finally heard it and stopped. Vegeta bumped into her and snarled. "What?"

"I heard something" she muttered, listening carefully. The hum of the engine faded to the background, along with Vegeta's breathing. She heard it again, above them, the sound of a machine powering up. A loud blast ripped through the spaceship and sent them both down to their feet again, followed by another large blast. The same sucking sound they had experienced when Turles blew up his deck came again, and they both covered their ears.

"The bastard's alive! He took the space pods!"

"Damn it!" Fasha yelled as she raced forward, kicking the last door open. The room wasn't very big, in fact it was somewhat modest for the captain. It was about the same size about the barracks above, with a single larger bed in the middle of it. There was a large screen on the other side, and a comfortable chair from which he no doubt monitored the ship, but what interested her was the sleeping baby in the middle of the room. Taking very careful steps, she walked next to the bed and very carefully the larger baby with both hands. With shocked eyes she adjusted the white blanket she was wrapped on and looked at her daughter, with tears again threatening to flow out. She saw Vegeta standing in the doorway and managed to contain herself however. "She's fine... we need to find a way out."

"Check this room, there might be a hidden escape pod or something."

The two of them did just that, carefully going over every inch of the room as best they could in the pale green light. Vegeta finally found a hidden switch under the large screen and a wall from the removed was pushed aside to reveal a small ship. It was bright red, it had a sleek, thin shape, resembling an bird. It had four seats, all of them placed closed together, but with enough room for each person to seat without bothering the others.

"Can you pilot it?" Fasha asked, holding the still sleeping Turnia with both hands close to her chest. Vegeta only shot her a glare and said nothing, still clutching his injured arm that Turles had almost popped out of his socket. "Fine... can you hold her while I figure this out?"

Vegeta again threw her a glare, but he entered the ship and sat down on one of the seats, facing the metal wall. She gently placed her on his lap and he placed his hand over her, holding her in place. Not the best position for a baby, but it was more than she had expected from him. She got in and turned the ship on, quickly making sure all systems where ready.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"Sure" she lied. "I flew some ships back when I was with Bardock."

"Mmm... were they anything like this one?"

"Honestly?"

"I would prefer it."

"I've never flown in my entire life" Fasha said as she punched the red button at the side of the control sticks. Throwing a sideways glance at Vegeta, who was visibly nervous and gripping the seat as best he could without letting Turnia go. "Kidding, I've flown plenty, it's just been a while since I've last been at the helm."

"Don't make jokes like that!" Vegeta snarled at her, and Turnia woke up with a cry as the ship smoothly flew away from Turles' ship. "Damn, she's up."

"Well, I'm flying" Fasha told him as she did her best to plot the course for Earth. "You try to calm her down."

"How do hell do you do that?" he asked, placing his hand over her mouth, trying to clamp it shut.

"Don't choke her!" she yelled once she saw what he was doing. "Rock her! Soothe her, don't kill her!"

"I... I have no idea what to do!"

"Fine!" she yelled as she finally managed to plot the course and kick the autopilot in. She squirmed back to where Vegeta and Turnia were, snatching her daughter away from him. "See, it's easy" she told him as she moved her softly from left to right. "She was probably surprised, she's never seen you."

"She looks more like Raditz than Kakarot" Vegeta told her as he looked out the cockpit.

"She looks like Berean" Fasha muttered softly, and Vegeta noted, with some resentment. "A lot like Berean."

"And you dislike that, why?" Vegeta asked, feeling somewhat drowsy as the stasis system kicked in.

"I don't" she firmly answered.

"Right."

"I still don't know why you did it, but... thank you... Prince Vegeta."

"Turles' still alive, thank me when he's dead."

"To be honest killing him didn't matter much to me."

"Right..."

00

Raditz got out of bed and slowly placed his armor back on, taking his time.

"Where are you going?"

"To the lookout, water's running short and I need to fight somebody" he answered without looking at her. "This planet's quickly getting boring."

"Hey, that hurts me!" she said as she sat up from the bed.

"Then rub yourself" he told her with a grin as he slipped his hands into his thick, white fingerless gloves.

"You know, you can be really mean sometimes" she said as she got out from the bed, clothing herself as well.

"You haven't seen my mean side, girly" he told her with a chuckle. "Besides, I did what you wanted. You wanted to mate didn't you? What else is there for me to do?"

"You could stay here and sleep with me like you're supposed to! You can go for water later, even tomorrow!"

"Supposed to? What's the purpose of that? I'm not tired and it's not night. Why would we sleep?"

"You Saiyans are so dense... Fine go" she told him in that tone any human male would quickly recognize, that leave-and-you're-going-to-regret-ever-stepping-out-of-this-house tone. But Raditz was not human, and he took it as a sign that she had finally seen his point and had admitted he was right. He jogged out the room and flew through the broken wall, leaving a bright white trail behind she followed with her bright eyes. "Bastard... I can't believe he left me."

00

Piccolo was waiting for him with the capsule he had left them a few days ago. Ever since the Namek's had left Earth he found himself with time to spare. Training their warriors had consumed a lot of his time, and he had come to enjoy it. A part of him, obviously Nail, had wanted to go with them, but when he looked down at Earth he felt a longing inside of him, he couldn't leave it just like that, he had to help, like it or not. A tiny part of him told him he wouldn't be able to rule a planet like this, but that part was quickly drowned down.

Raditz arrived at the Lookout at the same time he always did, greeting him with his trademark grin as he approached him.

"Whatcha doing, Finger?"

"I'm still Piccolo, Raditz, you know that."

"I like my way better" he said as he grabbed the capsule. "So when are the Dragon Balls gonna be ready? We gotta wish the baldies and pretty boy back, right?"

"That was Goku's intention."

"Let me ask you something" he said as he sat down on the edge of the Lookout, literally overlooking the world. "Why do you keep calling him Goku? You know his name is Kakarot, so why call a name a weak human gave him?"

"That weak human, was extremely important for both Fasha and Kakarot" Piccolo told him as he sat down next to him, and in an a rare moment, Raditz was serious. "When they both arrived on Earth he was the one that gave them shelter during the first few days, and when Fasha left Kakarot here on this planet alone, he returned to Son Gohan. He was very strong, for a human, and he taught Kakarot many things, and he even gave him his name, thinking of him as his family. He named him Son Goku, and Goku accepted the name out of gratitude."

"So if this old man's so important to them how come I've never met him?"

"Goku killed him."

"How come?"

"When he first told me the story he thought it had been a monster or a creature of the forest, but when he transformed into a Great Ape and you told him all about the transformation, he realized it had been him. He looked at the full moon one night, he transformed and killed Son Gohan."

"Huh, talk about irony" Raditz said as he kicked the hard stone with his heels.

"Indeed... So you would do well not to call him weak in front of Goku, he might just turn Super Saiyan again."

"Hey I just realized" Raditz shouted with excitement as they both stood up. "You're the only one that has seen Kakarot as a Super Saiyan! What is it like? Did he look any different?"

"Yes, he looked very different" Piccolo said as he walked back towards the lookout. "But I suspect he would like to surprise you when he comes back."

"Wait what? He's coming back? How do you know?"

"I don't" Piccolo answered. "But Kami says he will, and the old man knows many things we don't. If he says Goku is coming back, then he's coming back."

"Damn, better let Bulma and the old geezer know" Raditz thought out loud. "How long till he comes back?"

"Not for at least six months."

"Mmm... six months... We would have used the Dragon Balls and call Kakarot's friends back by them..."

"Raditz."

"Uh?"

"What do you plan to do?"

"About what?"

"What do you plan to do here? Do you intend to stay on Earth?"

"I might, if this tropical paradise stays just as lovely as it is know" he answered as he rose in the air.

"Why are you mingling with the locals?" Piccolo asked with a tiny smile on his face and Raditz stopped, turning around to look at him.

"What? Where you spying on us?"

"Not me, but Kami mentioned that it was strange that you would take such an... interest in the natives."

"Well that's my business isn't it? Besides it was just a favor!"

"Just a favor? You truly don't know human women, Raditz. You'll wish you'd never come back to life, I promise you that."

Raditz threw him a dirty look before flying off back to Capsule Corp, where he would find out just how right Piccolo was.

_00_

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 26 Secret Agent (Anvil) on Turles and the secret reasons why he's doing what he's doing. What is he doing? Do you know? Cause I certainly don't. What's his agenda? Weird isn't it?_

_ Where's Kakarot? It's the third chapter without him appearing!_

_ How you guys liking Vegeta's somewhat new attitude? What about Raditz? He seems more carefree now doesn't he?_


	27. The Hero's Return

Chapter 27

Fasha awoke with a groan as the stasis system finally gave out, it wasn't meant to support three people, and certainly not for this long, she was actually amazed it had lasted so long. Vegeta awoke a minute later, along with Turnia, who stirred in her sleepy and grumpily began crying.

"Damn, how long were we out?"

"I'm not sure" she said as she looked out the cockpit. Six small rocks floating in the air began to grow larger and large, until one one of them fit in their vision. It was brown for the most part, even in the dark side she was able to see the lack of live, and Fasha bit her lip as she felt some strange pressure on her chest. "Look at it... it's still gone to hell."

Turnia screamed a particularly loud wail that hurt both their ears and Vegeta shot her a dirty look.

"Damn it woman, make her stop!"

"She's hungry" Fasha said calmly, knowing that Vegeta would sympathize with her. If there was one thing that had the power to bring Saiyans close together it was food.

"Fine."

She still managed to calm her down and Turnia's loud wail turned into softer whimpers, and Fasha held her closer to her chest.

"I hope there's food there" Fasha muttered as their ship began their approach into the planet. Not trusting the auto pilot, Fasha again gave Turnia to Vegeta, thanking him softly before grabbing the ship's control. She steered the ship in a slight nose dive and allowed it to slowly descend into the planet. The ship groaned as it entered Earth's atmosphere, and she felt the pressure build up. Her eyes went wide when they went around the planet and saw what was on the other side, where it was still day. "What is that?"

Vegeta looked out the cockpit, still clutching his left side in pain.

"It's... it's an island."

"But... But... How?"

"I'm not sure... could the Dragon Balls have done it?"

"I don't know" Fasha muttered as she diminished the ship's inclination and speed and adjusted it to their new destination. A few alarms beeped and smoke burst forth from the engines and Fasha swore under her breath. "We'd better get out of here."

"What?"

"The ship's done. I'll make it crash against the ground, can you get out?"

Without a word but with an annoyed sigh, Vegeta blasted the roof off and jumped out, letting Fasha aim the damaged craft towards the ground and kick it into full throttle. She jumped up and allowed the bright red ship to crash against the black ground, while she floated up to where Vegeta was and took Turnia from him gently.

"Shall we?" Vegeta asked as he floated towards the island as best he could. Fasha looked down at the tiny explosion the ship made and followed him.

00

Piccolo looked down and saw the small red craft crashing itself towards the ground. Kami closed his eyes for a few moments and opened them with a smile.

"They're here" he finally said.

"It's about time" Piccolo answered, walking back inside. He walked deep inside the Lookout, going through it's many corridors and hallways with an even look on his face. He opened the door and went inside, allowing himself a second to get adjusted to the higher gravity and increased temperature. He walked into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and looked at the two men fighting inside. "They're here" he said before leaving, and in an instant both of them had rushed past him and had exited the room, leaving the door opened in their haste. "Fools" Piccolo muttered as he closed the door, ensuing that neither dimension would be ripped from reality.

00

Fasha stared at the island in disbelief, flying around it a few times before actually landing on it. Numerous trees surrounded it and formed a sort of wall that kept it separated against the rest of the word. She saw a lot of trees that shouldn't have been able to live in the same place. Coconut trees, pine trees, hundreds of flowers of all colors, monstrous trees that touched the sky, tiny bushes she and Vegeta stepped on as they walked. Strawberries, grapes, pineapples, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, mangoes and hundreds of other fruits filled her eyes.

She walked between the rows of fruits and vegetables with care, picking a few of the smallest fruits and giving them to Turnia, who greedily chowed them down. They continued walking until she and Vegeta stumbled into a lake. It wasn't a small lake with muddy water, it was a huge lake, at least three hundred meters long, with crystal clear water that flowed from numerous rivers down what appeared to be a huge mountain very far away from them. She flew up and looked down at the green paradise below her, clutching the bag she had gotten from Turles' ship with an iron grip. She first looked at the gigantic plains where various animals and dinosaurs were roaming to the north. She watched how a few birds flew beneath and above her, how huge fish jumped up from the lake, their jaws snapping at the air. She turned her eyes at the mountain even further north, looking at its dark gray color, slowly turning clearer and clearer until it turned a a pure white where the snow covered it. Mighty gusts sent her hair waving and snapping around. Fasha turned around and looked at the south part of the island. There were six stone platforms placed on the ground, each a perfect square of eighty meters by eighty meters, she judged. As she flew towards them she noted a stone road that lead away from them and through a thin forests. After a few miles she reached what seemed like a village, with a thin wall around it. The wall was pure black in color and Fasha recognized it as a metal right away, but what, she did not know. The village had 7 domed houses, all of them were a pure white color, with several round windows and one large entrance in the middle of it. She noticed a few sparks coming out of one of the houses.

From another home, a woman screamed to somebody, but what it was she did not heard. She stomped out the home and furiously headed to another home, furiously banging on the door, but nobody answered. A young man came out of the home she had just left and was chasing her when eh stopped... and looked up, straight at her.

Krillin's eyes went wide with surprise when he recognized her floating above them, and he began laughing and yelling for others to come out. A few other men came out which she recognized, there was Yamcha with them, with his arms crossed and still looking somewhat pissed at her. The other bald man... Tien also came out, with a dark haired woman wearing a red cloth in her hair next to him. The woman she did not recognized also looked up, her anger gone for the moment. From a separate home, another woman got out and while she did not recognized her right away when the woman yelled at her she remembered it was Bulma. Still too dumbfounded to really understand what was happening, Fasha didn't notice Vegeta floating next to her and she slowly flew down to them.

Most of them greeted her and Turnia with a smile or a grin, a few of them patting her in the back, and her brain slowly began to put the pieces together.

"Hey! We wondered when you were going to return!"

"You look like you need a bath" Yamcha told her with a smirk.

"Oh, this is Turnia? She's so cute! And she's about Gohan's age!" the woman she didn't recognize said, and Fasha felt so overwhelmed she took a step back and looked at them with a shocked face, trying to put into words the hundred of questions she had. Before she had a chance to voice any of them Bulma spoke firmly.

"Guys, guys! Fasha must be exhausted we can ask her and talk to her later!" she yelled and talking to her with a smile, she added. "We didn't know when you would return, I was really worried, it's good to see Turnia again."

"Bulma?"

"Come on, let's get you home so you can rest, we got so much to tell you!"

Vegeta landed behind her and looked around, sparing only a second to glance at the numerous humans surrounding Fasha.

"Vegeta!" The three men said at the same time, taking a step towards him, and their eyes, landed questionably on Fasha.

"What's he doing here? With you?" Yamcha asked,, menacingly, and Fasha blinked a few times.

"He came with me" Fasha told him firmly. "He helped me save my daughter" she told him. "Where's Raditz?"

"Come on!" Bulma said to both of them, placing a hand on Fasha's shoulder. "We should talk at home." After a few seconds of tense silence, Fasha nodded and Vegeta followed them both, crossing his arms and looking at the sky as if the rest weren't worthy of his gaze.

They left the humans behind and entered Bulma's home. She led them to what humans called the living room, Fasha didn't know why since technically all rooms were living rooms, and the two of them sat down on the green couch that had once been in Capsule Corp. Vegeta remained standing with his arms crossed, inspecting the house with a critical eye, much like Fasha had when she had first arrived on Earth.

"Bulma what the hell is going on, what is this?"

"Well, after you two left" she began, and she explained to them everything that had occurred during their absence. She told them about how she and Raditz had begun gathering food and supplies, how they had found a few other humans, how they had used the Dragon Balls to wish for a place where they would be able to rebuild, away from the Tree of Might's influence, and how once they had been ready again, they had wished for their friends to come back to live. "And that's about it."

"Wait, you said you made two wishes?"

"Yes."

"How long were we gone?"

"Fasha... you were gone for two years" Bulma told her with a concerned face, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"Two years..." Fasha repeated, looking at Vegeta, who looked more interested in a scouter that Bulma had left behind in one of her working tables.

"Oh, that doesn't work Vegeta, I'm still working on it."

Without a word he dropped it and crossed his arms again, leaning against the wall.

"Where's Raditz?" Fasha asked again. She needed to speak with him. "And tell me... if it's been two years, have you heard anything about Kakarot?"

Bulma smiled at her led the two of them outside without a word.

"Kami probably told them already. They should arrive any second now, wait until you see them."

"Them?"

As if on cue, two men appeared in the air above them. Fasha looked up and felt how her mouth gaped open.

The one on the right was wearing a blue skintight shorts and a shirt, and on top of it, a white chest piece with no shoulder guards. It looked like a white armored tank top. He had two bright red bands, one on his left arms and another on his left leg, and his thick boots and gloves were also colored white. His hair reached his knees and it swayed with the wind as he looked down at them with a grin covering his face.

To his left, the other man was wearing a light blue shirt with dark blue pants, and a white belt. His outfit was completed with a pair of orange and black boots and orange wristbands. He had much shorter, spiky hair. Both men smiled down at them, although Kakarot's smile was a much happier one than Raditz'.

They both landed a few meters away from the three of them, and Fasha eyed both of them with shocked eyes. She looked at Raditz and Kakarot, taking in their outfits, their faces, their bright green eyes and shining golden hair.

"Kakarot?" she whispered, unable to believe it.

"Took you long enough to come back" he told her with a chuckle as he stepped forward and hugged her tightly for a few seconds before taking Turnia from her arms. "Here you are! Look at you! You've grown a lot, haven't you?" Looking at Vegeta he added. "Nice to see you again, Vegeta... Raditz told me you went with Fasha. Thanks for that."

"Y-You... You're" he stammered, his eyes open wide. "You're both... but..."

"Super Saiyans?" Raditz told him with a grin as he stepped forward and crossed his arms over his chest. "Pretty cool isn't it? It took me a long time to get it right, but we've gotten the hang of it, haven't we, Kakarot?"

"Ha, that we have."

Raditz shot a look at Turnia and there was no mistaking the happiness on his face. His golden hair waned and lost some of it's glow, just like Kakarot's, and both Saiyans' hair turned black again, their eyes faded to black and their golden auras disappeared completely.

"So that's your idea of community service" Raditz told Vegeta as he patted the Saiyan Prince's back with a grin. "What took you so long, your royal worshipfulness?"

"How'd you do it?" Vegeta yelled, ignoring Raditz' blatant disrespect towards him.

"What, this? Just spray paint and colorants, buddy, it's easier than you think."

"DON'T TOY WITH ME!" Vegeta yelled, feeling how his anger rose to levels never before imagined. "The Super Saiyan transformation is legendary! How did you learn it? How did you do it?"

"I'll teach it to you" he said as he walked away from them. "If you behave, your highness!"

And Raditz let's the five of them alone as he headed back towards the village.

"I can't believe it" Vegeta muttered to himself, gritting his teeth and wishing a lighting bolt would strike Raditz and fry him.

"Kakarot" Fasha said again, too shocked to say anything else. She took a step forward and placed her hand on his face, feeling his face for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. "Kakarot."

"You sound like a broken record" he told her with a grin. "Come on, let me show you around home."

_00_

_ Bardock ripped the alien's head in half and chewed a piece of his cheek, making a face as he swallowed._

_ "Weak, ugly, and they have a bad taste" he said as he threw the head down and grabbed a piece that had once been an arm. "I can't wait until we get off this planet."_

_ "You're just saying that cause you almost got your ass handed to you!" Tora told him as he bit into the alien's leg. "What was it you said to the last guy?"_

_ "You can beat me, little man" Borgos said, mimicking Bardock's voice as best he could and making a face. "You can't stand my Super Final Ultra Shining Riot Bomber Flashing Attack!"_

_ "I did not say that!" Bardock laughed, throwing Borgos a piece of bone. "You probably just heard that cause your brain was smashed to a useless pulp last mission."_

_ "No, I heard it too!" Fasha butted in, laughing. "I don't even want to see your Super Final Ultra Shining Riot thingy. First it was just a little name, it made sense, now you just keep adding words to make it sound better! Next time you fire it, it's gonna take you an entire day to just say the name, you'll kill them with boredom, that's your real secret move!"_

_ The five of them laughed as they finished eating the alien and leaned back on the ground, looking at the pale gray sky above them._

_ "How much time do we have left before our next mission?" Bardock finally asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen between them._

_ "A few weeks, I think, we do have Prince Vegeta's thing to go to."_

_ "Ah, damn it, like I cared for that stupid kid" Bardock said, and Fasha saw him rolling his eyes._

_ "That stupid kid could easily kick all our asses in a few years" Tora shot back, and Bardock waved his hand at him._

_ "Don't bother me with such trivial facts, he's a stupid kid and that's all that matters."_

_ "There's some talk about Freeza taking an interest in Prince Vegeta, some talk about him taking him" Suggesh said, placing his hands on his huge head._

_ "What do you mean, take him?" Fasha asked._

_ "Take him, some of his men came to planet Vegeta a few months back, when the Prince had just been born, they said Freeza might come and take him."_

_ "Enough" Bardock said with his authoritative voice, one he rarely used, and the four of them fell silent. "It doesn't matter what Freeza does, that is none of our concern... Go to sleep, we head back to Planet Vegeta tomorrow."_

_ "Yes, sir" the four of them said, all trace of glee in their voice gone. Fasha threw Bardock some stray looks before she fell asleep, and they were all met with a serious glare. He had said gone to sleep and he meant it, which means he had some serious thinking to do and he didn't want to be bothered. Fasha closed her eyes and got as comfortable as possible on the brown ground._

_00_

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 27 The Hero's Return (Pink Floyd) on Kakarot's first appearance since Namek! And on the Bardock flashback there, it's the first time Bardock appears since the first chapter!_

_ So far the bands used for song titles are as follows: White Wizard (heavy metal), Iron Maiden (New Wave of British Heavy Metal), Black Sabbath (heavy metal), Artillery (thrash metal), Creedence Clearwater Revival (folk, classic rock), Hypocrisy (melodic death metal), Ramones (punk rock), Judas Priest (heavy metal), Anthrax (thrash metal), Samael (industrial, electronic black metal), Advent Of Bedlam (melodic death metal from Costa Rica :p), Testament (thrash metal), Megadeth (thrash metal), Misfits (horror punk), Annihilator (thrash, groove metal), Satyricon (black metal), Agent Steel (thrash metal), Yes (progressive rock), Running Wild (speed metal), Feeble Minded (death metal, grindcore), Doro (heavy metal), Motörhead (speed metal), Carve (death metal), Slayer (thrash metal), Arise (thrash, death metal), Anvil (heavy metal) and now Pink Floyd (psychedelic, progressive rock)! Whew, that's quite the list! I hope I can find enough bands to finish this or I'm going to have to start repeating bands and that's something I don't want to do unless it's absolutely necessary._

_ Raditz a super Saiyan as well! And what happened to Kakarot in all this time? And where's Turles? Did he follow them? And what's about this island that shocked Vegeta and Fasha so much when they first saw it?_

_ The metal surrounding the village is katchin, the strongest metal in the universe :)._

_ Let's see... what else can I tell you? Mmm... Oh, Chichi said Turnia is the same age as Gohan didn't she? What was that about? How the hell can Gohan even exist? Kakarot wouldn't... would he? Naaaa he wouldn't... I hope he wouldn't._

_ As always, thanks for reading and reviewing, it really makes me want to continue this and see where it ends! Thanks a lot guys!_


	28. And The Wind Shall Scream My Name

Chapter 28

Vegeta closed his eyes as he allowed the artificial gravity force his body down, pushing himself harder and harder as it rose. In front of him Raditz was still grinning, he had not even uncrossed his arms. Furious, Vegeta spread all his energy to his body and felt how the pressure faded away. It reached a hundred times Earth's gravity and he felt heavy as he struggled to run, having to use a lot of his energy to move like he used to. Raditz on the other hand, had not yet crossed his arms, and he walked in a circle, impatiently waiting for him to get ready.

Vegeta almost snapped when he saw him yawning in boredom, and he powered up to his peak, using his full power, Vegeta was able to move easily in the training room, just like Raditz was, the difference was he wasn't even trying.

"All right, we gotta do this quickly, you won't last long using your full strength."

Furious at the man he had once called a weakling, Vegeta attacked him, throwing punches and kicks as fast as he could. What few blows Raditz did not dodge he blocked with his hands or knees or legs and he even allowed a few to hit him.

"How did you get so strong so fast?" he asked as he pushed himself above his limit, feeling his body complain under the stress. "It just can't be!"

"Don't worry your royal magnificence, you'll start catching up soon enough. In the meantime we should have some fun!" Raditz said as he kicked Vegeta back, pushing him back but not hurting him. "Hit me!" He yelled, and disappeared.

Vegeta looked around and found no one, he could sense Raditz' energy but it was everywhere, he couldn't pinpoint him and even after closing his eyes and focusing he found himself unable to do so. He did however, hear a faint clicking sound which he recognized as Raditz' boots hitting the ground as he jumped again and again. He punched the air where he thought Raditz would be but by the time he threw the punch Raditz had already moved past him. Gritting his teeth Vegeta closed his eyes again and concentrated.

00

Fasha held Kakarot close to her and enjoyed the warmth from his body, slowly giving in to the soothing tendrils of sleep. She enjoyed the way he placed his hand on her back, pushing her down towards him. The two of them silently enjoyed the first time they had slept together since so many years ago while Fasha's brain worked on what Kakarot had told her. Work was slow, since most of her attention was still being consumed by the knowledge that she was in a floating island, but she managed.

He had landed on planet Yadrat, barely escaping the destruction of Planet Namek. He had trained with them for six months and he reached Earth six months later. On his second year he had spent most of the time training Raditz and trying to teach him how to transform into a Super Saiyan, and he finally found a way by constantly mocking and insulting him and his best efforts. From what Fasha had overheard, Raditz was now training Vegeta to turn into a Super Saiyan as well, which meant he would have a lot of fun with that. She would have to learn too, or she would be left behind.

Three months ago they had been attacked, by androids, Kakarot had said, and he had earned a raised eyebrow at the story. They had been looking for him and trying to kill him, he had said. Raditz had taken care of two of them by himself, testing his new found power, but he had been overwhelmed by two others, who were immensely superior to the other two. It had taken both Raditz' and Kakarot's combined strength to bring them both down and destroy one of them. The last one, a girl, had been spared by them (Fasha did not fail to notice that the cute looking blonde was the only one to survive) since she wasn't a threat on her own. Bulma had then taken her to her workshop and fixed her, eliminated her programming and activated her again. Kakarot had simply laughed it off, and Raditz had enjoyed fighting her again and again and again and again.

It was interesting, seeing how the few people that lived here interacted. The male humans trained among themselves, as they were clearly surpassed by the Saiyans, while Kakarot and Raditz would usually fight on the Earth below. The female living with Tien was strange, according to Kakarot. She was sometimes very helpful and kind to others and other times she would openly insult and treat others like crap. It sounded like the average human woman to her, but maybe Kakarot wasn't explaining properly. The android now kept mostly to herself, she was currently living in the same house Krillin was, while Yamcha lived alone in another house. Raditz and this other woman whose name she kept forgetting, but that was apparently a friend of Kakarot, lived in the farthest house from the village, and he had taken her as his mate. When Fasha questioned why Raditz' son had been named by a man _they_ knew, Kakarot laughed and said Raditz had lost a bet, and that Chi-Chi had gone along with it because she liked the name.

She opened her eyes and looked at Kakarot, sleeping so peacefully. She suddenly found herself remembering the last time she had spoken with Son Gohan, and how with his disguised words he had made her realize that there was more to life than killing Freeza and avenging her race. She silently thanked him, wherever he might be, because if he hadn't, she might have given up after killing Freeza.

Her mind addressed the fact that she had kept repressed until now, and she looked at Kakarot's sleeping face again.

She was supposed to be dead. Freeza had killed her.

She had been revived thanks to the Dragon Balls, but something inside of her kept telling her that she should not be alive, something deep inside of her mind very softly kept telling her she was a dead woman, and that dead women did not belong in the land of the living.

Kakarot stirred in his sleep and pressed down on her back even harder.

She pushed the thought out of her mind for the time being, smiling softly. She was alive, she had Kakarot, she had Turnia, hell, she even had Raditz and Vegeta. The Saiyan race was very much alive, Freeza hadn't been able to take that away from them. He might have destroyed their planet and dwindled their numbers down to less than a dozen, but the Saiyan race was very much alive.

They might have been reduced to their prince, two men, a woman and an infant, but the Saiyans were still alive, and mightier than ever.

_00_

_ Six years later._

_00_

Kakarot yawned as he woke up, looking out the window of his room, trying to find the sounds that had woken him. Outside, he saw the bright blue sky and a few birds flying past his house. He heard the sounds of fighting coming from outside and placed his dark blue pants and blue shirt on, tying his white belt as he walked outside. There were three small figures fighting in the middle of the village, throwing a furious barrage of punches and kicks as they traveled through all the village, rolling on the ground and flying above houses.

"Hey! Whatcha doing?" he asked them, and three children stopped fighting and looked at him. "Remember what Fasha told you the other day? Fight in the arenas! Not here!"

With soft oops, the three children landed on the ground near him, hastily apologizing an promising it wouldn't happen again.

"Sorry, dad!" Turnia said as she combed her black hair behind her ear. She was wearing a long red shirt that was way too long for her, reaching past her knees and black pants with red boots. Next to her, Gohan cheerfully smiled at him.

"Hey, uncle!" he greeted him, breathing heavily and Kakarot rubbed his head affectionately, messing up his already messy long hair. Like his father, Gohan had taken a liking to Piccolo, and he was now wearing a purple outfit similar to his. Trunk only greeted him with a nod, much like his father would.

"Hello mister Kakarot" he said seriously, adjusting his tiny Saiyan armor to his small body, pulling on his white gloves and boots.

"Hiya, Trunks. So, why are you guys fighting here? You know what will happen if Bulma or Chi-Chi catch you, right?"

"The fighting sort of spilled over here, it's really cramped in the arenas!" Trunk protested. "When will we be able to go down and fight on Earth like you and dad do?"

"When you too strong to fight there" Kakarot explained for the billionth time.

"Fighting in small quarters is supposed to teach us about control" Turnia told Trunks in a holier-than-thou tone that even Kakarot disliked. "Besides, if we fought on Earth I would be able to use my full strength, and then I would beat you two to a pulp!"

"See? She gets it" he said as he turned around, looking for Fasha. "Where's your mom anyways?"

"Auntie Fasha was helping Bulma test some sort of robot or something" Gohan said while Trunk and Turnia went on and on about Trunks not being that weaker than her.

"And my dad's the prince of ALL Saiyans!" Trunks finished, sticking his tongue out at Turnia and crossing his arms, looking very satisfied, Turnia was about to open her mouth to protest when Kakarot stopped them both by picking them by the collar.

"Alright! Now you guys get yourselves back to the arenas and you fight like there's no tomorrow or I'm going to get angry" he said, tossing them both as hard as he could away from the village, he grabbed Gohan and threw him as well, and the three children snickered and laughed before flying off on their own towards the fighting grounds.

Kakarot yawned and walked towards Raditz' house, where smoke came like mad out of the kitchen. With a knock he entered and found her cooking up breakfast like she always did.

"Oh, hey Goku!" She greeted him with a quick kiss on the cheek, like female humans always did among themselves, even if they saw each other everyday. "Breakfast will be ready in a minute. Do me a favor and wake Raditz up, will you."

"Sure. RADITZ!" he yelled, and Chi-Chi gave him that look she usually reserved for him.

"You know that's not what I meant" she told him as she placed four very large plates on the large wooden table near the kitchen. "Go and wake him up!"

"Fine, fine" he said as he walked up the stairs. "Glad she's not my mate" he muttered under his breath as he opened the door to their room. Raditz was snoring loudly, his tail softly moving from side to side. Without a word, Kakarot grabbed it and pulled it, making his brother wake up and throw him one of his trademark scowls before it changed to a yawn. "Morning."

"Go to hell" he muttered as he burrowed his head back on the pillow.

"Likewise. Chi-Chi says get up."

"I'm up."

"If you don't get your ass down I'm eating your food" he warned as he walked down the stairs slowly.

"The hell you will" he heard Raditz answer after he had closed the door. Snickering, Kakarot walked downstairs.

00

He took special care to hide his power level like he had learned a few years back. It wouldn't do if any of these idiots found him. His space ship landed as far away from their floating island as possible, right where his master told him to. It took him several long hours of search, but finally he found what he had been looking for in this entire system. The sphere was yellow and large with numerous imperfections and protuberances. At it's feet there was a gauge, pointing at zero. He concentrated and contacted his master, so far away but so close.

"Master, I've found him" he reported, and the voice spoke, delighted.

"Excellent Turles! Where is he?"

"On Planet Earth."

"Mmm, I see... But that planet is completely devoid of life! We can't revive Majin Buu without energy!"

"Oh, don't worry, Babidi" Turles told his master with a grin. "It might not have a lot of life, but it's got plenty of energy."

The wind whipped around Turles, making his signature spiky hair stand up and flutter in all directions, his white cape billowing wildly. A stray gust of wind roamed through the lifeless wasteland and rose in the air, racing towards the island that held the last living beings on Earth. The gust rushed past the tall mountain, running over the lake, pushing through the tournament arenas, lifting Turnia's shirt and making her blush as she screamed at the boy not to look, through the thick forest and over the village wall, banging against their homes and making them shudder with the cold.

Turles let out a soft laugh and walked back to his space ship, anxiously waiting for the moment he had been waiting for ever since Fasha and Vegeta destroyed his group and his reputation.

_00_

_ Fun Facts! (Brace yourselves, (winter is coming) this one's long!)_

_ Chapter 28 And The Wind Shall Scream My Name (Stormlord) on Turles arrival and the imminent revival of Majin Buu! Are our heroes ready for this new threat? Find out on the next chapter of Dragon Ball Z!_

_ Here's a list of power levels as they are at this moment in the story. I included Freeza's as a reference to how strong they are. These power levels are my own and they might not resemble actual power levels as depicted in the anime and manga (Note, all these power levels are from after the six year period occurring in the chapter)._

_Kakarot Normal: 390,000_

_Kakarot Super Saiyan: 19,500,000_

_Raditz Normal: 379,000_

_Raditz Super Saiyan: 18,950,000_

_Vegeta Normal: 386,000_

_Vegeta Super Saiyan: 19,300,000_

_Fasha Normal: 382,000_

_Fasha Super Saiyan: 19,100,000_

_Turnia Normal: 16,000_

_Gohan Normal: 10,600_

_Trunks Normal: 9,930_

_Piccolo (Not Fused with Kami): 2,150,000_

_Kami: 20,000_

_Freeza Final Form: 12,000,000_

_Krillin Normal: 68,000_

_Krillin Kaio Ken X 6: 408,000_

_Yamcha Normal: 49,500_

_Yamcha Kaio Ken X 3: 148,500_

_Tien Normal: 53,000_

_Tien Neo Tribeam: 636,000_

_Tien Kaio Ken X 5: 265,000_

_Tien Kaio Ken X5 Neo Tribeam: 3,180,000_

_Android 18: 18,000,000_

_Master Roshi: 950_

_Roshi Max Power: 2100_

_Launch: 4_

_Bulma: 3_

_Chi-Ci: 18_

_Turles Normal: 893,000_

_Majin Turles: 20,200,000_

_ Vegeta's personality would be somewhere between his post Buu saga attitude and his pre Buu saga attitude, mellow and relaxed, but still loving violence, somewhat arrogant, but caring for his family and his race (remember what he said in the previous chapters? A Prince lives for his people? He seems to finally understand a great many deal of things he didn't before)._

_ Raditz is downright carefree, much like Goku in the anime, but with a few layers of sarcasm and a bit more cynical than Goku was. You could say he's Goku with a darker sense of humor. As I said it in previous chapters, Raditz simply does not give a single fuck and that can tend to upset Chi-Chi juuuuuust a little bit._

_ Fasha has turned much more motherly with all the children living in their island with them and has taken more of a teacher's role. She might tend to be over protective of Turnia, but unlike human mothers, that over protect their child by not letting them do anything even remotely dangerous, Fasha over protects Turnia like a Saiyan woman does, training the shit out of them and then training them some more, that's why Turnia's power level is much higher than Gohan's despite the miniscule age difference between them._

_ Kakarot... and we arrive at the hero of the story, the male lead, the star. Kakarot is a combination of the Kakarot you know and love with just a hint of the Goku from the show. He's carefree, quick to forgive and somewhat gentle, but with his Saiyan traits intact, respecting strength, not showing his emotions in public, lusting for battle, and with the occasional desire to kill when he transforms into a Super Saiyan. Aside from that, he can sometimes be cruel when his enemies have pushed his buttons too much and can purposely punish or torture them before killing them. He also has no hesitation to kill an enemy and has absolutely no respect for those that don't try to get stronger and better at what they do. That is why he doesn't wish for the rest of the population to come back in time, because Kakarot felt humanity didn't deserve it._

_ In case you didn't notice it the island is FUCKING HUGE! It's got a goddamn mountain, a huge lake, a huge forest, six eighty meters by eighty meters tournament arenas, monstrous plains for the animals to roam free and a very large village with very separated houses, each three stories tall and with an underground gravity room to train. So yeah, it's big._

_What did you think of this chapter? Are things moving too fast? Should I have skipped the six years or not? Tell me what you think, please! Thank You!_


	29. End Of Innocence

Chapter 29

"How long will it take?"

"A year at most. I could do it faster, but I don't want to risk it, if they find us it's all over, not even I can take all of them at once."

"Fine, what's one more year. Do it."

00

The wind roared and raced around the island, and dark clouds gathered above them, and heavy rain began to fall on them. A powerful mist covered the island and Turnia fell down from the sky, barely managing to land on the ground.

"What's going on?" she yelled as she struggled to stay on her feet. In front of her, Gohan and Trunks were being thrown around the arena. Even using all their power they were barely able to maintain control during the air, and the three of them began to run back towards the village. Once they were inside the forest the powerful rain and winds subdued somewhat, and the pure blood and the hybrids slowed down, taking careful breaths. "Did you see that? What was that? I've never felt rain fall so hard!"

"It hurts" Trunks said as he rubbed his arm. It was sore alright, both from the numerous blows Turnia had given her and from the freezing water drops that had dropped like bombs out of the sky. "Rain isn't supposed to hurt."

"Guys, listen!" Gohan said, shushing them both, and the three children searched the forest for any sound over the deafening rain. "The animals are going wild."

It was true, Turnia realized, she heard numerous birds squawking and chirping loudly. Wolves and foxes howled to the wind, she even heard one of the few dinosaurs they had roar in fear. With a serious face, Turnia pushed that stray lock of black hair that fell between her eyes out of her face only for it to fall back down a few seconds later. Her wet hair was plastered against her back, and it made it difficult to move her head.

"I'm going to see what's doing this" Turnia said as she jumped up a tree. "You guys head home!"

"No way!" Trunks yelled, jumping up with her. "I want to see it too!"

"Hey, don't leave me alone!" Gohan yelled struggling to catch them. The three little Saiyans jumped to the top of the largest tree and blasted off from there, crossing the turmoil of rain and wind as fast as they could. They passed through the clouds and emerged on the other side, where the sun was still shining bright on them. Gohan shivered and took off his purple shirt. "I'm cold" he complained as he twisted the shirt and rinsed the water out.

"Look!" Turnia said, pointing at the trail of clouds that led away from the island. "Let's follow it!"

The three of them followed the dark clouds, and before they knew it, they had left their home behind, rushing in impatience to find the reason for such a strange occurrence.

00

Kakarot and Vegeta landed in the middle of the arenas, looking around with impatience.

"Damn it, they're not here" Kakarot muttered pushing his wet hair out of his face.

"That brat" Vegeta yelled in anger. "When I catch him I'm going to show him! He's going to be sorry he was ever born!"

"Come on, let's try around the lake!"

The two Saiyans blasted off in a second, searching the island for their children, a growing anxiety in both their chest making them feel uneasy.

00

Fasha made Bulma scan the island for the third time and furious that she was unable to find them, took off, searching in every good damn place she could think off. She asked the humans if they had seen them, she flew over to Roshi's home and asked him, but nowhere she looked she found them. Kakarot and Vegeta were also looking for them, but they still hadn't contacted her. It had been ten full minutes, why hadn't they found them?

"Damn it!" she yelled as she rushed into Raditz and Chi-Chi's house, ignoring her greetings. "The children are missing, where's Raditz?"

"What? Why do you mean they're missing?" she asked, getting up and leaving the book she had been reading on the couch.

"They're missing, Chi-Chi!" Fasha repeated angrily. "Where's Raditz!"

"He went to the Lookout! I- he left in after breakfast!"

Without another word, Fasha exited her home and pressed the comm button on her scouter, reaching Raditz'. It beeped ten times before she gave up, lazy bastard couldn't be bothered to come find his only son.

00

Turnia looked around and with a knot forming in her throat, she realized the clouds had led them to the Earth below.

"Oh ho" she said, and the two boys turned to look at her. "We shouldn't be here. We're down on Earth!"

"Chicken" Trunks muttered as he rolled his eyes. "I told you they were exaggerating, there's nothing here! Come on, let's find where this things leads!"

With a smile, Gohan followed him, and Turnia watched them as she chewed her lip. Something told her she should go back, but what if she left them alone? Something could happened to them and then it would be her fault. And if she made Prince Vegeta mad? Terrified at the thought, she rushed after them and quickly surpassed them. The faster they could figure this out, the faster they would return home.

00

Turles grinned as the machine started working and the spherical chamber lit up. It was the first, the entrance, where they would have to fight the best of the best. With a satisfied smile on his face, Turles jumped down to the next floor and continued building the second chamber.

00

Kakarot shushed Vegeta for the tenth time as she closed his eyes and focused. He might not be as good as Krillin or Tien, but he could still sense power levels, and while the children's strength wasn't much, they still could be felt. Cursing himself for not bringing Krillin along, Kakarot focused harder, pushing the rain and wind out of his mind. He finally found it, a tiny trace, very, very far away from where they are.

"Got them" he said, and his satisfied smile soon turned into a serious frown.

"Well, where are they?"

"Damn it, they're on Earth!" he yelled as he raced after them. Cursing as only he could, Vegeta followed him and the two of them made their way towards the ruined planet.

"How far?"

"They're really far away" he answered as he closed his eyes. "Where the hell are they... What are they doing?"

00

Turnia gasped and felt how her breath left her body as her eyes wandered up the enormous roots, over the massive trunk, and finishing on the gigantic branches sticking out.

"What is that?" she breathed, petrified in mid air.

"I don't know" Gohan answered, just as surprised as she was.

"Didn't your dads tell you anything?" Trunks told them as he floated in front of them. "That's the Tree of Might! That's what sucked the Earth dry! That's what killed everybody living here!"

"That's the tree of might? I never thought... I never thought it could be so, so big!" she yelled as she stared at it.

"Come on, let's check it out!" Trunks told them as he raced forward, and both of them were forced to follow him. The three of them landed on one of the thickest branches and began to look around. The huge tree had thick branches, large enough to fit even two of their homes side by side. It's leave were huge and thick, and a bright green color.

"It's beautiful" Turnia said as she pressed her hand on the trunk, feeling the mighty power radiating from it. "Can you guys feel it?"

"Feel what?" Gohan asked as he jumped to the nearest branch, landing neatly on it.

"The tree" she muttered, remembering that neither of them had trained with Krillin or Yamcha or Tien. "It's so powerful."

"Well duh!" Trunk said as he slapped her back, snapping her out of her trance. "It absorbed the energy of the entire planet, of course it's strong! Dad told me the four of them once came down to try and destroy it, and look! It's not even scratched!"

"No way!" Gohan yelled as he jumped back to their branch. "But dad's the strongest that there is! He couldn't destroy this?"

"First off, my dad is the strongest that there is, and no, they couldn't."

"You're both delusional. My dad and my mom are both stronger than your dads! But that doesn't matter right now!" she yelled at both of them as they were about to protest. "We need to find out what's making that storm above our home!"

"Storm? Is that how you call it? Weird name."

"Yeah, yeah" Trunks said as he flew to a taller branch. "I don't see anything though. Maybe it just happened?"

"I don't think so."

Turnia jumped up next to him and made her way to the top of the tree, brushing the green leaves with her fingers as he went by, but there's was nothing there that might tell them what caused the storm. She was about to give up when among the leaves, she saw an orange fruit, larger than her fists. Gently she grabbed it and sniffed it. It smelled alright. It was round, and it had numerous protuberances on it, giving her hands a funny feeling when she held it. As soon as she smelled it her stomach began to rumble and she gave it a bite.

It was very juicy, but not particularly good. It tasted similar to an orange, but it wasn't as sweet. And as soon as she swallowed, Turnia doubled over in pain, feeling how her body burned all over. She heard Gohan and Trunks laughing on the other side of the tree and calling to her, but she couldn't understand the words, she felt how her energy rose in a matter of seconds, and her body slowly got adjusted to it.

"So, one last fruit survived, look at that" a voice next to her said. She stood up and looked at her father, who was wearing a new Saiyan Battle armor. Fearing what he might say to her after she directly went against his orders, Turnia stood up and hastily began to explain herself before he grabbed her head and furiously kneed her stomach, making her cry out in pain and shock.

"Daddy?" she mouthed before she felt another blow to the back of her head and fell down, unconscious.

00

"We should get help!" Gohan said for the third time. "She's not waking up!"

"And get killed ourselves! No! Just give her a moment, she'll wake up!" Trunks yelled, slapping her face. "Wake up, Turnia!"

After a particularly strong smack, her eyes moved somewhat and Trunks hit her again, hoping this time she would wake up. Her shining black eyes shot open and she grabbed his hand, punching him with fury in her eyes.

"Stop hitting me!"

"Ow! Why did you hit me so hard?" Trunks complained as he rubbed his face where the pure blood Saiyan had hit him.

"I didn't" see told him as she stood up. "What happened?"

"We found you here" Gohan answered as he help her steady herself. "You were unconscious."

"Why were you unconscious, and what's that thing in your hand?"

"What?" Turnia asked looking down at the orange fruit in her hand. "Oh, I found this fruit it was hanging from the tree."

Trunks eyes shone with delight as he rushed forward and grabbed the fruit taking a deep bite out of it and swallowing it without even chewing.

"Here!" he said, throwing it a Gohan who bit into it as well.

"No wait! Spit it out!" Turnia yelled, but it was too late, both boys bent over as their stomach's cramped before their blue auras exploded in a flash of light, just like hers had.

"I knew it!" Trunks said as he stood up, laughing.

"What did you knew?"

"That's the fruit of the Tree of Might! It makes you stronger every time you eat it!"

"What, stronger, how can that be?" Turnia asked, despite knowing it was true, she had felt it first hand, and she had taken a much larger bite than either of them. Before any of them could answer her two fully grown, and very pissed men landed on the branch next to theirs.

The three children looked at them with fear in their eyes and began trembling with fear.

"Busted!" Gohan said as he took a step back. "Hey uncle, Prince Vegeta... ah, I... I'm going to give you guys some privacy, I should get back home."

"Don't you dare take another step, boy" Vegeta told him with ice on his voice, and the three children froze solid where they were.

"Why are you here?" Kakarot asked the three of them seriously, his eyes gleaming with anger.

"We can here to find out what caused the storm!" Trunks defended them, looking at the two grown ups with defiance and self-righteousness. "The trails of clouds let us here."

"You know you aren't allowed to leave the island" Kakarot told them, looking around. "What did you find here?"

"It doesn't matter, Kakarot! Let's head back."

"Hold on, Vegeta, can't you feel it?"

"Feel what?" Vegeta angrily asked before he stopped and felt it too. He glared at the children and did not fail to notice Gohan hastily placing both hands behind his back. "What do have there, brat?"

"Nothing, nothing, nothing!" Gohan screamed, giving himself away. Kakarot appeared behind him in an instant and snatched the orange fruit away, looking at it with disgust. "I'm sorry, uncle! I'm sorry!"

Kakarot crushed the rest of the fruit with his hands and threw it down on the ground, before firing a blue blast at it, scorching it and the ground beneath it.

"Did the three of you eat this?"

Looking at the ground, the three of them nodded.

"That's what we felt" Vegeta said, visibly more relaxed, but Kakarot wasn't. He threw Vegeta a look that only they knew what it meant, and Trunks saw his father nodding. Before he knew it, he felt a hand on his shirt and he was flying back towards the island, with the tree becoming smaller and smaller.

"Dad?"

"I need you to be quiet" he told him calmly. "I know that's almost impossible for you, but if I hear your voice right now, I will do something I will regret the rest of my life. So SHUT UP!" he yelled, making Trunks cringe in fear. He knew when it was dangerous to talk to his father.

00

Kakarot looked at both Turnia and Gohan with serious eyes.

"Turnia, did you know what you were doing when you ate that?"

"No" she answered.

"Do you know what this does now?"

"It makes you stronger" she mumbled, feeling weaker and smaller than ever.

"It makes you stronger... without any effort at all" Kakarot told her seriously. "And what do we think about people that go through live without making any effort at all?"

"They don't deserve to live" Turnia told him in the verge of tears.

"They don't deserve to live" Kakarot repeated. "Gohan!"

"Yes, sir!"

"You two are going to fly back, you're going to go to your homes and you are never going to come back down here unless it's with one of us" he ordered them, and the two of them nodded furiously. "Good... Go!"

The two children flew with fear, leaving blue and red trails behind them as they raced towards their home.

Kakarot flew up and began inspecting the tree, looking for any fruit they might have missed. He only found one more, and furiously crushed it with his fist, throwing it to the ground as well. With a look of disgust, he flew away and left the tree behind. How he wished for the power to destroy that thing. If there was one thing he wanted in this life, it was to become strong enough to destroy that tree, and wish the Earth back to how it was.

The island wouldn't hold them forever.

00

Turles looked from below how Kakarot swept the tree clean of any fruit, cursing his stupidity. Any thought of taking the fruit and become strong enough to destroy them himself were eliminated from his mind as Kakarot finished ripping the last fruit from the tree, throwing it down and firing an energy blast after it, burning it to ashes.

As the blue trail began to fade, Turles jumped back down to the underground chambers and kept working. What was one more year? They would all die then.

He checked his scouter and read the last power level he had scanned, wondering how effective the fruit would be after being there for so long. It was probably somewhat past its prime, but it wasn't rotten, not in the least. Maybe the effects wouldn't be as potent with time?

27900.

"Impossible" he breathed as he looked up at the tree. "Eleven thousand with one bite? Damn it, Kakarot!" he yelled in frustration. Pounding his fist against the metal floor.

_00_

_ Six months later._

_00_

Turnia screamed as she sent a ki blast with both her hands, pushing Gohan and Trunks away from her. She cashed Gohan and landed two kicks and a punch on the flying boy before kicking him upward. Trunks charged up and hit her jaw before she had a chance to dodge, and they began exchanging punches and kicks, with Turnia slowly gaining the upper hand. By the time Gohan had fallen down, Turnia had landed four solid punches on Trunk's face. She jumped behind him and was about to throw a blast at his back, but he had expected that and he threw his own at her, hitting her straight in the face. Stumbling back, she did not see Gohan charging up his attack, and the young Saiyan landed at perfect hit with his yellow beam, consuming her and sending her flying backwards, out of the ring.

Gritting her teeth in anger, she flew upwards and hit Gohan in the face before hitting his back with a ax punch, sending him crashing down. Trunks appeared behind her and again they clashed, but as Turnia's red aura grew brighter and brighter, she pushed him back until her power was too much for him to handle, and he too went down.

"That's enough" Fasha's voice came, and Turnia powered down at the request of her mother, landing neatly on the ground next to the struggling boys, whom she both helped up.

"No fair!" Trunks said as he clutched his arm. "Ever since you ate the fruit you became too strong for us!"

"I already was too strong for you" she told him with a smile. "Besides you ate it too."

"Enough!" Fasha yelled again, and they both fell silent. The snarl that hadn't left her face ever since she found out Turnia had eaten the fruit of the Tree of Might was even more pronounced now. "I don't want you two to mention that ever again! Now... you're showing the same mistakes, Turnia. You and me are going to continue this later, after your lessons with Bulma."

"Yes, mom."

"We're done. Go and get ready, guys" she said in a somewhat softer tone. As the children scampered away to their respective homes to get changed, Turnia heard Yamcha and Krillin staring at her and she threw them a lazy look. "Yes?"

"Nothing, nothing!" they both hastily said, waving their hands at her dismissively.

Without a word, she took off and headed home, it had been a brutal week. They had searched the Earth at least ten times in the past few days and found nothing that could indicate them where that power spike came from. She got inside her home and walked up the wooden steps, stripping and leaving her armor pieces in the hallway before she threw herself in the bed, grateful for the few hours of sleep she would get. Next to her Kakarot opened his eyes lazily and smiled at her, hugging her as she got under the thing covers. They both fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

00

18 looked at the children with an even face, smiling softly at Gohan as he passed her by. They ran towards Vegeta's home, where Bulma would teach them math, physics and a bunch of other things 18 thought they were too young to learn. She crossed the almost abandoned square and exited the village, where she found Krillin and Yamcha laughing at something she didn't want to know. Without a word she passed through them and walked through the forest enjoying the small animal sounds around her.

A gust of wind passed by, making her vest flap against her body. She adjusted her black shirt and closed the vest, annoyed at the sound it made. She made sure not to step on any water that had remained from the rain of last night, not wanting to wet her leather boots or her jeans. After a few minutes she reached the trees that separated their island from the rest of the barren land and she jumped up, landing on one of the branches and sitting as comfortably on it as possible, looking down at the barren Earth.

She began to think about everything that she had lost, and how stupid she had been. Both before and after she had been turned into an android.

Her long and depressive sigh must have been heard all the way back to the village, because after a few seconds she saw Krillin floating next to her. She looked at him with her bright blue eyes and smiled softly at him. Without a word he sat down next to her and they both looked at the dead planet beneath them.

She began to ponder on the smaller man sitting next to her. What was his angle? He hadn't made a single move on her, not when she arrived, but that was understandable, not when she had been repaired by Bulma, and not when he invited her to stay with him, yet she would constantly catch him looking at her, throwing her stray goofy smiles or looking like he had something to say to her.

Every night they would go to sleep around the same time, each on their separate rooms, and every morning they would wake up at similar times.

For all intent and purposes, they were living together, yet he treated her more like a roommate than anything else. It was frustrating to say the least, not having the courage to even speak properly to her, but somewhat cute as well. Shaking her head softly, she returned her eyes to the ground below and watched how the few ruined buildings that had survived these years slowly crumbled down.

With the corner of her eyes, she saw Krillin opening his mouth to say something, only to close it again. She closed her eyes and did her best to suppress another sigh.

00

Bulma smiled as the three little Saiyans ran away from her home, jumping with joy. She went downstairs and looked inside the gravity room, where Vegeta was furiously training. Ever since he had managed to learn how to use her computer and how to scan power levels with it he would scan Kakarot's, Raditz' and Fasha's power level every morning. He would grit his teeth when he read the results and go train as hard as he could after that.

She waved to him as she passed and he nodded back, which meant he was in a good mood.

She grabbed one of the spare solar panels and took it upstairs, carrying her toolbox with her. With a grunt, Bulma placed everything down and began to change the panel that had been giving them problems these last few days.

"Damn, I hope these kids learn how to do this, fast" she mumbled as he held a wire between her teeth. To her surprise, a slender white hand grabbed the cable with delicate fingers and held it for her. Looking up she recognized 18, looking down at her with a serious face, like she always did. "Thanks!" she said as she kept working. She didn't answer, like usual. For a moment she wondered if she had screwed her vocal processors or something because before she had fixed her, she remembered the android saying a few words. "I don't think so, but did I screw up your voice or something when I fixed you?"

"No."

"Aw, she speaks" she said as she kept working on the panel, removing the screws and wires and placing the new one on top. "You need something?"

"Yes."

After a few seconds of silence, Bulma looked at her with a questioning glance.

"What?"

"Help... I have questions."

"Questions" she repeated as she finished, grabbing her toolbox. "About what?"

"Men."

Bulma stopped and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Human men, I hope?"

"Yes."

"About a short, black haired, nose less human man, maybe?" she asked as she placed the toolbox back down where she had found it and took the damaged panel upstairs to her workshop. Silently 18 followed her and she assumed that was it. "What do you want to know?"

00

Chi-Chi and Raditz slowly made their way through the radish fields. Raditz was holding the huge basket with an annoyed expression on his face, while Chi-Chi would pull them from the ground and throw them in the basket, checking them to make sure they were good despite the fact that they were always good.

"Woman" Raditz told her in an annoyed tone. "They're always good! The seeds are straight from Shenron! I doubt he would give us bad seeds!"

"You can never be too careful, Raditz, there might be worms or something. I'm not giving Gohan anything I haven't made sure is safe for him."

Raditz rolled his eyes and gave up. Piccolo had been right.

"Son of a bitch" he muttered under his breath as they finished with the radishes and went to the potatoes.

00

"Turnia" Yamcha said, and she turned around. "You should find Gohan and Trunks soon, it's gonna be a full moon tonight, remember?"

"Oh, right. Thanks!" she said as she flew up and began calling both their names.

Yamcha watched her go, so small and yet so strong. Hell, give her a few years and she would be stronger than him. He was about to return inside the village when he heard a voice in his head.

_ "Yamcha!"_

"King Kai?" he asked, recognizing his last master's voice immediately.

_"Yamcha, it's good to see you are alright."_

"More than alright, I would say" he answered as he sat down on one of the tournament arenas. "So what's this about, you usually don't check up unless you want something."

_"Don't get that tone with me, boy! I check up on a fourth of the entire galaxy, you think I have time to babysit one planet? Especially a planet with less than twenty individuals?"_

"Fine, don't get angry" he said as he laid back and stared at the blackening sky. "So what's up?"

_"Just wondering who the newcomer was"_ King Kai said, and Yamcha sat up at once.

"What newcomer?"

_"The new Saiyan, it's been a while since he arrived hasn't it?"_

"What new Saiyan?" He asked, getting more and more altered.

_"Oh, I get it, you're trying to trick ol' King Kai. Forget it son, I've been around for a long time! You won't get me with that."_

"Damn it, that's what we felt! I gotta warn the rest of the guys!" Yamcha said as he ran towards the village, jumping over the trees and flying past the forest. He landed in the middle of the square and was about to run towards Goku's home when he remembered the full moon shining down on them. Gritting his teeth, he ran towards Krillin's instead. "Shit, it had to be now of all days."

00

_ Fun facts!_

_ Chapter 29 End Of Innocence (Iced Earth) on Turnia's Trunk's and Gohan's futures._

_ Turnia is somewhat of a goody two shoes. She makes sure to always do what her parents say, but being a pure blooded Saiyan, is quickly angered or taunted. She likes to fight just as much as her parents do, but because she has never been seriously hurt and on the verge of death, she doesn't really understand the implications of it. She's almost seven years old._

_ Trunks is almost like his anime counterpart, a bratty, cocky and arrogant kid that nonetheless cares about his friends. He tends to be over simplistic and rationalizes everything and greatly admires his father and his Saiyan heritage, as you saw last chapter where he is quick to state the his dad is the Prince. He's five and a half, so imagine a somewhat shorter and even more baby faced Trunks XD._

_ Gohan is a combination of kid Gohan and Goten, because he's mostly raised by Chi-Chi, he is surprisingly like his anime counterpart, but doesn't have that reluctance to fight he did in the anime. He is about a year older than Trunks in my novel. He's six years old._

_ In my story Vegeta, Fasha, Raditz, Kakarot, Turnia, Trunks and Gohan all have tails, that's why Turnia, Trunks and Gohan have explicitly forbidden to be outside at night during full moon, and why Yamcha doesn't go and warn Kakarot, it wouldn't do any good since they can't leave the house._


	30. Impossible Brutality

Chapter 30

Turnia charged her energy as high as it would go, sending red flares all over before her aura stabilized. Her senses heightened with her strength and she felt as light as a feather, completely ignoring the weighted clothing she had on. The android looked at her completely unimpressed, with her arms still crossed. She patiently waited for her to reach her max, while her vest flapped with the wind. She dusted off her black pants and threw her an impatient look, as if she had much better things to do. With an angry snarl, she charged, throwing a few red energy balls as she charged. 18 deflected them with her hands and kicked her up before flying up herself to hit her back down, but Turnia grabbed her neck with her tail and pulled her close to her, punching her face before she had a chance to react. The hit did not faze her, however, and 18 punched her stomach before sending her crashing down to the ground. Before she could get up however, the cold, calculating beauty landed on top of her, pinning her down on the ground with her knees and sending threads of pain all over her body.

She placed her hand on her back, almost gently pushing her long, black hair out of the way.

"Oh, no!" she yelled, but there was nothing she could do, 18 fired. "Aaaaaah!"

The attack had burned right through her clothing and left her back completely scarred. 18 let out a bored sigh as she got up and jumped out off the arena and walked back home, leaving an exhausted Turnia behind, clenching her hands into fists in anger.

How could there be such a difference between their power? She trained everyday. She fought everyday and she practiced her moves until they were perfect, how could that blonde woman, that blonde robot that never did anything, defeat her? To her left Trunks and Gohan were looking just as bruised as she was, while Fasha looked on. Her purple eyes might not have been easily read by others, but Turnia knew what she was feeling. Pride? Was that it? It was to tell from so afar, but she was almost certain. She had been beaten in less than five seconds, the few things she had tried had been for naught, why was she proud?

"Get to the Lookout" she told them firmly, and the three bruised and battered Saiyans looked at her like she was insane. "Go to Korin's tower, get some senzu beans and bring them back here, bring exactly four, and don't eat any of them until you are here."

"But we can't!" Trunks protested before Fasha's glare silenced him.

"And remember that you're not allowed to go back down on Earth, if you do, there will be consequences."

Swallowing visibly, Turnia nodded as she got up. Nice birthday present she got. With a groan the three of them began walking to the trees that divided their island from the rest of the world and very slowly, flew towards the only other place in the planet that still had life.

00

"Damn it, Woman!" Raditz said as he slapped her hands away for the tenth time. "I'm fine! I can wait until the brats get back!"

"You are not" she said as he grabbed his wrists, placed his hands on his lap and placed alcohol on his wound, making him jump up in pain for the six time. Despite the fact that he had told her a billion times this wasn't necessary, still there she was, making sure his injuries were clean and he wouldn't catch an infection. "waiting until the kids get back, and stop calling them brats!"

"I call them what they are."

"Your son is not a brat!" Chi-Chi said as she forcefully applied more alcohol than needed, making him grit his teeth as he slapped her hand away again. "He is a very smart boy who is going to grow up to be a great man, who will one day do great things!"

"You seem to have confused me for somebody that actually cares about that" he said before Chi-Chi poured the entire bottle of alcohol on his head making him stand up and take a few steps back. "Damn it, Woman!"

"Listen here pal!" she said as she pointed her finger at him, forcing him to take a few steps back and sit on the couch. She applied so much pressure Raditz felt her finger through his armor. "I can take a lot of things, but you showing absolutely no interest in our son is starting to get on my nerves! I know you Saiyans aren't used to that, but either you learn quickly, or I will beat it into your thick skull! Get it?"

"Fine, fine!" he gave up as he raised his hands, grabbing a throw pillow to wipe his face, only for it to be snatched by Chi-Chi. With a glare she gave him a white cloth and with a tired sigh he grabbed it, wiping his face and giving it back to her. Remembering Piccolo's words all the time. "Damn it."

00

Piccolo had felt uneasiness for the last few months, but if Kami could see something, he would not tell him. Respecting his wishes as long as the few lives that were left on Earth were not threatened, Piccolo looked down at the barren planet.

His usual stare was interrupted by the tiny dots in the distance, one red and two blue, approaching him slowly. With a grin he recognized them, the Saiyan brats. They seemed to be badly injured, but Raditz had warned him that might be the case, and that he should not interfere. He saw how they slowly made their way to Korin's tower and how they again very slowly flew back, carrying a small bag of Senzu beans.

"Mmm... she hit them hard" he noticed when he saw the girl's back. It was scorched black, and he wondered how she was even standing. The damage she received was more than substantial. "Interesting ritual..."

"That's no ritual" Kami said as he walked next to him, his cane being clutched harder. Every day the old man found it harder and harder to walk, and Piccolo inwardly wondered how much time he had left. "Fasha just needed to get them away from enough time to plan the feast."

"What feast?"

"The one their having for Turnia's birthday. She turns seven years old today."

"I was aware."

"But today is important for another reason" Kami said, slowly turning around. "Today is the day I have finally been able to see what is going down there on Earth."

"On Earth?"

"I have been unable to feel anything alive down there for a long time, and no matter how hard I looked, I had all but given up hope on ever finding more humans, but it seems something blinded me. Something kept me from seeing what was occurring below our feet."

"How can anybody blind you?" Piccolo asked, wary of anybody with the necessary skill to fool a god.

"It was a powerful magician, but who I cannot tell" Kami said as he looked directly as Piccolo with his old, tired eyes. "They did not want me to see what was happening on Earth... but for an instant, just for the briefest of moments, I was able to see what happened, what had been kept hidden from me."

"Spill it out, old man" Piccolo said, a touch of his former self emerging for the first time since Raditz had last pissed him off.

"There is no need" Kami said with a tired smile. "Today is the day our separation stops, today is the day we become whole once more."

"What? You are insane."

"You have no choice in this matter Piccolo, was is occurring on Earth is too dangerous for me to handle, and for you as well. Even Goku will need your help."

"Goku has his Saiyan comrades, he doesn't need my help."

"Oh but he will, when they awake what they have been hiding for so long, they will need all the help they can get, and this is not a guarantee that you will succeed. It will merely raise your chances of success."

"I don't understand you at all" Piccolo muttered. "But you said there were more humans alive?"

"A few, living a few thousand miles away from us. They have lived underground all this time, a few of them emerging only to get supplies. You will know all about them when you have fused with me."

"I will not fuse with you" Piccolo stated with a dry tone.

"Like I said, you have no choice. The Saiyans' power dwarfs your own enormously, and the beast that is hidden inside dwarfs theirs. You cannot hope to stand to this threat unless you join with me."

"What of the Dragon Balls?" he asked, grasping at one last straw.

"What of the Dragon Balls? I created them to give hope to mankind. Instead they brought destruction and pain. They will not be missed."

"Then allow time for one last wish to be granted, make the island bigger, or restore the Earth back to normal, don't let those humans live for the rest of their lives in this wasteland."

"You surprise me" Kami said with sincere gentleness. "You care for these humans?"

"I'm supposed to rule this planet one day, aren't I?" Piccolo asked with a small grin. "I can't do that without subjects."

"I suppose you can't" Kami answered with a chuckle. "Very well, one last wish, they can use it to expand the island as you suggest or for whatever they want, but after that we fuse, we cannot delay this."

"How long do we have?"

"A few days... at best."

"Then I best warn them" Piccolo said as he flew as quickly as he could to the island.

00

"I told you guys I wasn't exaggerating!" Yamcha yelled as Piccolo finished his tale.

"You're always exaggerating, and you complain the one time we don't believe you?" Krillin asked his friend with both eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, and look what happens when you don't believe me!"

"I personally scanned the Earth dozens of times, in fact I did so today!" Bulma protested, smoking one of her precious cigarettes. She only had a few hundreds left, and considering she had all her life to spend them, she was rationing them as best she could. "Nothing can hide from my scanners, I can detect even the smallest life form! Ask Vegeta, he tried again and again to hide from me."

"Shut up, woman!" Vegeta yelled. Apparently Saiyans had more than just their tails in common, Chi-Chi thought as she rolled her eyes. "That has absolutely no importance whatsoever! Your machine is clearly malfunctioning! And you Kakarot!" he yelled pointing his index finger at the only Saiyan that seemed more interested in finishing his sandwich than hearing what they were talking about. "You said you checked that place! Did you even bother to look at it?"

"Ah... I might have" he admitted as he finished chewing. "I sensed nobody there, I didn't see the point of looking."

"Clearly you missed him! And this group of humans as well!" when Kakarot seemed to remember that there were humans still alive on the planet Vegeta stopped him with one of his trademark glares. "And don't you think you're bringing those humans here! Wish them a separate island if you must but not here! I have enough distractions as it is!"

"Regardless of what you choose to do" Piccolo said, interrupting Kakarot's protest. "We are in danger, this new Saiyan will make his move soon, and given the amount of time he has been hiding, I am certain he holds no friendly feelings towards any of us."

"You realize there's only one possibility of who it is, right?" Fasha asked Vegeta, while Raditz and Kakarot looked on with curiosity. Turnia jumped on the table and grabbed another of the sandwiches Chi-Chi and Launch had made for them.

"Yes" Vegeta said, looking at the ground as he clenched his fists.

"And this time he's got some kind of weird trick up his sleeve. He can't have gotten much stronger, we made sure of that" Fasha explained, referring to the last bag of the fruit she had brought with her, which they had promptly destroyed. "But that doesn't make him any less dangerous."

"I'll rip his arms out and beat him to death with them this time" Vegeta declared with a grin, which Fasha returned softly, and Kakarot looked up from his food for a moment with a strange glint in his eyes.

"Jealous of their little private joke, Kakarot?" Raditz asked with a grin as he smacked his brother's back.

"No" he quickly said, taking another bite and munching loudly. If he had said yes it could not have been more obvious he was.

"You two"Piccolo said, and he drew both their attention. "Make your wish quickly, Kami and I are... humph... we're going to fuse after you're done."

"What? Fuse?" Raditz asked, raising his eyebrows. "What for?"

"Separated we are weak, together we will become what we used to be, when we first arrived on Earth."

"So does that mean you won't be Piccolo anymore?" Goku asked as he got up and looked at his friend.

"Yes, that is exactly what that means, Goku" he answered without hesitation. Goku finished his sandwich and swallowed, never taking his eyes off his friend.

"I guess you really have to do it, otherwise you wouldn't even have told us" he mumbled, grabbing another sandwich. "Thanks for the heads up, Piccolo. Well use the Dragon Balls right away."

"Right."

Piccolo took off with the same serious look that seemed to be always plastered on his face, and in a surprising move, Raditz took off after him, Gohan hot on his heels despite Chi-Chi's protests. The group watched them without saying a single word, after his ordeal in Namek, Raditz had become somewhat attached to them, kinda like Kakarot had, Fasha realized as the white trail got thinner and weaker. They had been exposed to the natives and it had responded to what they enjoyed, Kakarot loved the company, the camaraderie and the feeling of belonging and good nature that being among a group of human friends gave him, while Raditz enjoyed the Nameks' serious nature, giving him plenty of opportunities to laugh at or, sometimes even, with them.

"There goes a happy man" Fasha muttered before turning her attention to the food on the table. "Shouldn't you go and call Shenron?"

Kakarot didn't answer, he rose into the air and went to the top of the mountain, where they had placed the Dragon Balls many years ago.

00

Raditz watched how Piccolo very softly spoke with Kami, so soft he couldn't even make out individual words.

"What's going to happen, dad?" Gohan asked him, looking at Piccolo with concern. "Is Mr. Piccolo going to go away?"

"Mister Green Man over there and Mister Holy Green Prune are going to fuse" he explained, doing his best to dumb it down for the brat. He was smart, but he wasn't that smart. "They used to be one single Green Man, but when they first arrived on Earth the Green Man's feelings got hurt, so he split in two."

"What for?"

"To do some... stuff he wanted to do. The thing is, when he fused, their power levels pummeled, the Prune is probably barely stronger than you, and while Finger over there got to train and become stronger, they're going to apparently become even stronger once they fuse."

"How come you call everybody by nicknames, dad?" Gohan asked raising his black eyes questioningly. "You never call anybody by their names, except uncle Kakarot."

"That's cause I haven't found a good nickname for your uncle yet, but fear not, smarty pants, I can, and shall find one for him."

Chuckling, Gohan returned his attention to the duo, who by now where simply waiting for the sky to turn black, and after a few more minutes, it finally did. It remained like that for thirty seconds, until the pale blue sky was visible once again.

"Did they just make their wish?" Gohan asked, and Raditz nodded, completely serious. They didn't hesitate, he would give them that. Piccolo walked over to the old god, placed his hand on his chest and the entire Lookout exploded in a flash of white, while an eerie sound filled their ears. When the flash finally subdued, a single being was in place of the previous duo, looking at himself with amazed eyes.

"No longer am I Kami or Piccolo. I am The Namek who has long since forgotten his name."

"You haven't changed much" Raditz noted with little interest.

"You are Raditz... you are Gohan" he told the two of them. "I know of you."

"Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked, looking at the new alien that looked almost identical to the Piccolo he knew.

"Not anymore" Raditz corrected him. "Can you sense him?"

"No" Gohan admitted.

"He's a bunch of people, all fused together. You got Finger in there, Green Man and his Holiness the Prune... Gotta say, you don't feel so strong. Have you really changed?"

"Yes, although it is best if I kept my power hidden for now, our enemy does not know it, and it could prove useful if he still believes I am weak."

"I like it" Raditz said. Without another word he rose into the air and was about to blast off when he heard Piccolo clearing his throat. Raditz and his son turned around and looked at him, who was grinning maliciously.

"Tell Vegeta, Fasha and Goku that they should train harder after this is over, you're all no match for me in your current forms."

Grinning, Raditz shot off with his son after him, laughing at his friend's comment.

"No match? I'll show him just how much of a match I can be. Raditz the God Killer they'll call me. Ass Whooper of the Gods" he and Gohan snickered.

00

Turnia fought harder, putting more power into her punches as her father kept dodging her attacks no matter how hard she tried. Today was the last day. The last day they would train. Tomorrow they would go and find Turles, the Saiyan that had kidnapped her.

It didn't matter to her that he was much stronger than her, even if he could kill her with one hit, he had kidnapped her, and she would make him pay for that.

Her red aura exploded in a flash and she saw the surprise in her father's face. In an instant she elbowed him in the face and with a twist elbowed him away from her. Chasing after him, she pulled her feet back and landed a powerful hit to his stomach. Knowing that her move wasn't strong enough to hurt him, she began punching and kicking his stomach and chest before headbutting him in the stomach and making him fall down, surprised. She jumped up and charged her energy in her hands, creating two large red energy balls in her hands. She charged her energy for a moment longer and like she had seen Prince Vegeta do before, she dragged them together, creating such a powerful energy ball she could barely contain it, the secret behind such a powerful move. By charging two equal energy balls in her hands and then carefully combining them, she could create a much stronger wave than she could if she charged an individual ball. She gave it one last surge and fired at her father, who had jumped up and was about to punch her.

"FINAL FLASH!" she yelled, surprising Kakarot, who took the blast head on and was sent flying. He landed several meters away from her, with Turnia looking at him in amazed. Just like she expected however, Kakarot got up and looked at her with a smirk.

"You can't use the Meteor Combination, that's my move!" he protested with a grin. "But since you seem to have taken a fancy to it, let me show you this one. I call it the Meteor Crash!"

Before she had a chance to tell him she really didn't want to see it her father had already closed the gap between the two and side kicked her into the air. He rushed after her and punched her in the face, sending her flying back. With all her training Turnia realized he was flying around her and that he was behind her. She started to turn around only to receive an elbow to her stomach.

"I don't like it" she stammered as she held her sides, and with a smirk, Kakarot continues his attack. He kicked her stomach, her face, her chest, her arms, her legs, her head, he punched her in the places he might have missed, only to make sure he broke most if not all of her bones. Every blow felt like a burning piece of iron scalding her, sending sharp jolts of pain to her brain. Just when she thought she was about to pass out he kicked her back, sending her flying up before he elbowed her down. With his knee he raised her back up, cracking her back in the process and finished the attack with an ax-handled punch which sent her flying back down.

She crashed against the tournament stage like she had so many times before. Despite everything she had just suffered, she had to admit she was pretty impressed, but the searing pain made it so difficult to even think straight. With a smile her father roughly turned her around with his foot as he looked at her. She screamed in pain as his seemingly innocent kick finished ripping through her stomach, and with pain she clutched her side, were a small spot of red was already forming. One of her ribs had ripped through her stomach.

"How'd you like it?" he asked innocently. The expression didn't change much when she began spurting blood from her mouth. "Ouch, I might have overdone it." he informed her as he scooped her up and flew back towards the village at a leisured pace. "You know your mom got hit with something like that, back when we were fighting Freeza on Namek. Boy I got so mad that day" he told as she spurted more blood that stained his light blue shirt. "Oh... you're not going to make it to the healing pod. Here" he said, giving her the emergency senzu bean they all had in their belts or wristbands. "Remember to pick up another one on Korin's, he should have another one ready."

"Yeah" she said as she floated next to him. He placed an arm around her shoulders and held her close to him, smiling at her broadly. She looked at him not with indifference, but with curiosity. Chi-Chi and Bulma did not treat their sons like her mother and her father treated her. They were so much kinder, so much... weaker? No the word didn't seem right. She floated next to her oblivious father, who kept smiling at her with pride on his eyes. "Why didn't you give me the Senzu Bean right away, dad?"

"Uh? I didn't want to waste it."

"Waste it?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah" he explained. "If I could get you to the healing pod on time there would have been no need for it, but I guess I hit you harder than I thought."

"Uncle Raditz' carelessness seems to have rub off you" she told him with a serious face as she lowered herself to the ground.

"Maybe" he admitted as he walked next to her. "You never did tell me what you thought about it."

"It clearly works" she told him with a tiny grin. "But don't you think it's too... flashy?"

"Flashy?"

"Had I been faster, or stronger to resist one of your moves, you would have had many, many gaps to exploit" she told him respectfully.

"I know."

"You know?"

"It's all part of it, besides I usually don't have to worry about my opponent managing to stop it, not even Vegeta could."

"But if they ever did-" she began.

"Then I would change it" he told her, annoyed. "You honestly think I'm stupid enough to not see it? I got plenty of moves to take out any opponent, and when I transform into a Super Saiyan there is nobody in this world that can beat me!" he suddenly yelled at her, scaring and confusing her as his eyes started to turn brighter and brighter glinting with a teal light. "It doesn't matter if there are tiny gaps in my attack because I have the ultimate power that there is! I am the strongest being in this galaxy and soon I'LL BE THE STRONGEST BEING IN THE UNIVERSE!"

Turnia stared dumbfounded at her father for his sudden explosion. She didn't really know how to respond, he was usually much more cheerful and carefree than this. Raditz could insult and mock him, Vegeta could criticize him, and he would take it with a grin and a threat to kick their asses. But she made one tiny comment and he exploded on her like that?

"I know dad" she finally said. "I was just pointing it out! I'm sorry."

"I know..." he said, and his eyes returned to their normal color. "I'm sorry, Turnia... I... I don't know what came over me" he admitted, turning his back to her. "Go home... I'll be there soon."

Without a word she retreated to the inside of her home, only to watch her father float away slowly away from the village.

"Dad?" she asked him, holding the door open, but he either didn't hear her or didn't want to answer. Prince Vegeta was usually like that, Uncle Raditz was usually like that, even her mother could be like that sometimes, but not her father. Not Kakarot. Something was wrong. The way he had hit her, very different to how he usually sparred with her, even when he upped the ante, he had never hit her so hard. Her vision had been blurred, every centimeter of her body had felt like it was on fire and about to fall off. And he had spoken easily and even laughed as he carried his dying daughter in his arms. The memory scared her, and she suddenly realized what it really meant to fight. She had never witness her father's true power, not even in his base form, but having gotten a taste of it, she wasn't very certain she wanted to see him going full out, no matter who he was fighting. Unless it was him...

She went to sleep feeling very uneasy. She heard her father and her mother entering the house, speaking in quiet, shushed voices. Whatever they said she could not hear however, and they soon went to sleep after her.

Turning her mind away from the strange occurrence, Turnia closed her eyes and smiled in anticipation, tomorrow was the day she would get her revenge back. Even if her father or one of the Super Saiyans ended up killing him, she would get one blow, at least one blow at the stupid bastard that had kidnapped her.

Turles was not going to escape her.

00

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 30 Impossible Brutality (Kreator) On Kakarot's attack against Turnia and on the way he treated her after that. What is up with him?_

_ As always, thanks for your reviews and for reading, I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story! As usual thanks to everybody that helps me by giving me little ideas here and there, by reviewing and just by reading, it's fun to write for you guys! :D_


	31. Innocence And Warth

Chapter 31

"This is not good" King Kai mumbled to himself as he watched Earth with great interest and concern. "You beat it once, Goku. You can do it again... Last time it cost you a planet and it nearly cost you your live. What will it cost you this time?"

00

They had protested, they had tried to sneak past them, they had tried to bargain with them. They had tried absolutely everything they could think off, but they would not let them go. Even Raditz showed an unusual fatherly moment when he explained to Gohan that he could not leave his mother alone and unprotected, and somehow the three young Saiyans had ended up stuck in the island.

It pissed her off to no end, but there was really nothing she could do about it. She looked down at her outfit with a frown. All that preparation for nothing. She was wearing a blue bodysuit, white armor, white gloves and boots, the same as Trunks and Gohan, but it seemed they had dressed them up only for show. She watched the blue, pink and white trails as they slowly faded, and for some reason she felt anxiety rising in her throat. She saw Gohan, standing over the roof of his home, looking around with a serious face. He had taken his fake job seriously. Trunks looked much more pissed, he kept kicking the same rock over and over, staining his pure white boots.

"Children, both of them" she muttered over her breath as she returned her gaze to the world below. Any hope of seeing anything was thwarted further when a thick brown cloud of dust covered her view of the ground. "Stupid Planet."

00

Kakarot landed near the Tree of Might, shooting it the same disgusted look he always did. To his left Raditz landed as well and began looking around with his scouter. Vegeta landed in front of him, determined to be him who took out Turles. Above them, he felt Fasha landing in one of the Tree's branches, looking down at the tiny entrance.

"There it is" she pointed out, and the three of them rose up into the air and looked down at the tiny white opening, scanning it with their scouters. "No numbers are coming up, there must be something there that is blocking our scanners."

"Damn that woman" Vegeta said as he took off his scouter and threw it to the ground. "Can't even make decent machines. Fine, we'll do this by ear. Let's move!"

The four of them jumped down and landed in front of the white door. It was three meters tall and two wide, with a large black 'M' carved in front of it. Without any hesitation, Vegeta was about to place his hand on it and blow it away when a voice from behind stopped him.

"There's no need for that."

"I was wondering when you would show up, Green Man" Raditz said with a grin. "Come to see the real warriors fight?"

"If you don't mind."

"What do you mean there's no need for that?"

"He knows we're here, he'll open it right away" he explained, and true to his word, the white door rose and revealed a wide tunnel that seemed to lead to another room below. "See? Jump right in."

Throwing him a curious look, Vegeta jumped down, all the color of his blue and white armor gone in the darkness. Kakarot, Raditz and Fasha quickly followed, taking defensive positions in the middle of the round room, but there was nothing there. It was an empty spherical room. The Namek slowly descended as the lights turned on.

"You're here!" A frail voice spoke with great enthusiasm. "I must thank you for coming, it is thanks to you that Majin Buu will finally be released from his prison! Now fight my warriors and prepare to face the most powerful beings this galaxy has to offer!"

Without another word, the only door on the room opened, and a strange looking alien emerged from it. He was wearing a black jumpsuit, with a white armored chest-plate covering most of his torso. The chest plate had two protruding spike off his back, but these seemed more for show than for anything else. He was wearing an elongated white helmet that Kakarot assumed was to fit his head.

"Welcome! The one you seek is on the bottom floor, four floors down. But to get to him, you have to get through me first. You can't go down without defeating me, and that means you're going to die here."

"Pretty cocky for somebody so weak" Raditz noted with great interest hoping he was suppressing most of his power.

"So who goes first? There's four floors more which means we each get a chance right?" Fasha asked, her arms still crossed."

"Damn... I guess I'll take one for the team" Raditz said, stepping in front of the rest. "You all owe me big time!"

"Lord Babidi told me to be careful because they were strong, but they're idiots!" The alien exclaimed to himself, but Raditz merely sneered.

"Babidi's the idiot, whoever he is" Raditz snorted as he walked towards him. "You're going to regret underestimating us. We happen to be the strongest in the universe!"

"I told you before, you are not going to leave this place alive. All the damage that you take will be absorbed by this room, and soon Majin Buu will be revived!"

All four Saiyans narrowed their eyes and looked at the alien with great interest.

"I guess I don't have to worry" Raditz said as he uncrossed his arms "If I don't get hurt, I won't lose energy and this Buu stays dead."

"That's right, but that's not going to happen" he said with a smirk.

"Enough chatter!" Vegeta interrupted them. "Go get him, Raditz!"

"Of course your Holy Magnificence, my Prince Vegeta! Your mere wish is my absolute command" Raditz said with a very low bow before he dashed forward and kneed the alien in the face. He hadn't flown very far when Raditz grabbed his leg and pulled him back down, slamming him against the metal floor. "See ya later!" he told the terrified alien before he blasted his head off. With a groan of disgust Raditz lifted the decapitated corpse and sniffed it, promptly throwing him to the ground. "Weak, ugly and he has a bad smell. Ugh."

With the corner of his eye he saw Fasha grinning to herself before the middle of the room opened.

"Alright, hopefully the next one will be worth our time" Kakarot said as he jumped first, closely followed by Vegeta, Fasha and the Namek. Throwing one last look of disgust at the alien Raditz jumped after them, only to find himself in a completely black room. Ir wasn't dark, it was black. He was blind, completely and utterly blind. The only source of light was closed to them when the entrance was shut. He wasn't able to see, but he heard and felt something, what he wasn't sure.

"You've underestimated us yet again!" Kakarot said in that tone that told Raditz he was going to transform, there was always a slight tone of cockiness and superiority when Kakarot transformed. With a mild grunt he exploded with golden light, and the room suddenly grew bright. Raditz looked at one of the most disgusting creatures he had ever seen. It was green, at least twice as tall as they were. It had large black claws and horns, and it was drooling like it had never learn how to swallow. "There, I can see you now! You should have know that it was pointless to darken the room. Or had you never seen a Super Saiyan before, Turles?"

"He, he, he, he, he, he" the creature laughed, and Raditz wasn't particularly pleased. "So the Dark Abyss isn't working."

"What? Aren't you worried?"

The beast opened it's mouth and to their surprise, began to suck the air around them. Raditz being the farthest away from him, didn't feel a thing, but Kakarot had to struggle to maintain his ground, and before any of them knew it, it became dark again.

"What?"

"Goku turned back to his normal form."

"I see, he can absorb our energy" Fasha spoke softly. "Kakarot crush him without turning into a Super Saiyan, I don't think you need to anyways."

Kakarot didn't pay attention to her, and he power up again.

"I'm glad you're such a fool, allow me to feast again!" the monster yelled as he began sucking the air again. Raditz narrowed his eyes, and smiled when he saw Kakarot's face. There was that nasty Saiyan grin. That grin that spelled doom for their enemies. That grin that promised nothing but death. And sure enough, Kakarot charged his power as high as it would go for less than a second, and the beast exploded with a bright flash of light.

"It's open" Kakarot said as he wiped some blood from his armor. "Let's go to the next level!"

00

"Who are they?" Babidi asked, sweat pouring from his brow. "They've killed two of my best fighters like they were nothing!"

"I told you they _were_ nothing" Turles answered with unprecedented rudeness towards his master. "They've gotten much more stronger since I last saw them... and Kakarot can turn into a Super Saiyan now..."

"Do you think you can beat them?"

"Of course, maybe not at all at the same time, but I can deal them enough damage to revive Majin Buu, and he can deal with them then."

"Mmm... If that is the case I had better send Dabura up there."

00

"I congratulate you" the tall red demon said with a grin. "It is truly amazing for you creatures to have defeated Yakon and gotten this far. However, this is the end of the line, because you are going to be facing me, Dabura, King of the Demon World!"

"King?"

"Well" Vegeta said, grinning evilly like Kakarot had a few minutes ago. "The disgusting creature is nobility. Allow me to properly greet him."

"He's all yours" Fasha, answered with a smile, best for last, it seemed.

"So you're the King of the Demon World? What will happen to your kingdom after I blow your body to tiny bits?" Vegeta asked with mock interest. "I can already tell you're much stronger than the other fools he sent after us, but you are still no match for me."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Get ready to face the Prince of all Saiyans!" Vegeta yelled as he charged his energy as high as it would go. His black hair flashed gold and his dark piercing eyes turned the usual shining green. His blue aura receded and was replaced by the same golden aura Kakarot had displayed so many years ago. "Be honored, at least it will be another noble that takes you down!"

Having gotten much of the cockiness out of his system, Vegeta charged, lunging at the taller demon, but he only struck the air as his opponent moved out of his way. A powerful punch almost collided against Vegeta's face, but he threw himself down to the ground and kicked Dabura up into the air with both feet. He jumped on his feet and rushed up, punching Dabura in the jaw as he rose. Before the Demon King had a chance to retaliate or regain his balance, Vegeta knocked him down to the ground with a double Ax-Handle, making him crash against the cold steel. Dabura threw a quick look at the four of them, and satisfied that they weren't going to interfere just yet he charged at the snickering Vegeta, who punched him again and again as he kept charging in his blind fury. A few punches later he managed to regain his composure and he pulled a sword out of thin air., the thick blade materializing out of nothing.

He struck at Vegeta again and again, but the Saiyan Prince was much too fast, and he was one step ahead of him. Dabura slashed downwards towards Vegeta and instead of dodging it, he clamped his hands together and stopped the blade. With a simple twist he broke it into two and threw it to the ground.

"You have power, even more than I anticipated" he admitted as his own power level rose higher and higher. "But I am the Demon King, and I will not be taken down by you mere mortals!"

"So you keep saying, yet I don't see you doing anything to back it up" Vegeta said before he spread his hands and began charging his energy. Recognizing the move that had hit him yesterday, Kakarot grinned. Vegeta's hands glowed as he concentrated his energy on his palms. "You claimed to be a King so I expected you to be strong, but you did nothing but disappoint me. Perhaps my six year old son would have been a better opponent for you!"

"You dare mock me?" the furious Dabura yelled at him before he fired a red and black energy ball with all his might at Vegeta that collided against the immobilized Saiyan Prince, filling the room with smoke. "One down, who's next?"

Fasha merely raised her eyebrows and lazily pointed at the cloud of smoke, and the confused Dabura looked at the rays of gold light escaping from the thick cloud. The cloud began to dissipate to reveal a snickering Vegeta, who could barely contain his laughter.

"You call that an attack?" he asked, laughing before his face turned serious. "Allow me to show you what a real attack is!" He told him as he brought his hands together, merging the two small gold energy balls together, forming his signature energy beam. "FINAL FLASH!" he yelled as the attack left his hands and flew towards his target. Not one to take defeat straight in the face, Dabura attempted to dodge it, but Vegeta foresaw his move and turned his beam to the right, and the golden beam completely destroyed Dabura, obliterating the Demon King. While his body absorbed a lot of the blast, some energy collided against the walls, and to their surprise, lights began to blur as Vegeta's attack was absorbed. "Damn... I'd forgot about that. Oh well."

"I don't think it was enough to revive this Buu" Fasha said as she walked towards the now open hole, smoothly jumping into it.

"I can't believe that guy was the king, What a pathetic Kingdom!" Kakarot said as he jumped down. "Unless it was like our case in which the nobility isn't the strongest one of us."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes and silently told him he would pay for that later when they had dealt with these scum.

"Oh, His Royal Pain in the Ass just got burned!" Raditz laughed in delight placing his hand on Vegeta's shoulder before he shoved it off in anger. "Oh come on, Vegeta!"

"I'll put you two in your places after this carnival is over."

"Fine, fine. Let's just finish this. It's just Turles right?"

"Indeed, and you'd best leave this one to me" the Namek spoke for the first time since they had defeated Yakon.

"What?" Fasha protested, her eyes glaring at the Namek. "NO! He's mine!"

"You are no match for him" he told her bluntly. "He severely outclasses you, all of you."

"You're insane!" Kakarot said as he checked his scouter. "I can't even get a reading on these things... But what makes you think that? I can't even sense him or anything!"

"I just know" he answered, taking off his cape and his turban. "Just step back and I'll handle this."

"No!" Fasha yelled again. "Turles is mine! I get the first shot. I honestly don't know why you even came! We're handling this perfectly! Just step back and let me have my turn! You said yourself that you wanted to watch, So watch!"

He looked at her firmly, before finally taking a few steps back and standing next to Raditz, Vegeta and Kakarot.

"She will regret this" he muttered mostly to himself, as the last door opened.

00

She was wearing a different outfit this time. She was wearing a white jumpsuit that covered her from neck to feet, along with white boots and white gloves. The only difference between her armor and the rest of the Saiyan's armor was that her chest piece was yellow, almost golden in color, and instead of two shoulder straps it only had one. She threw him an icy glare the moment he stepped out, with his trademark grin.

"It's been a long time, Fasha" Turles spoke as he removed his white cloak again. "Time has not been treating you kindly I see" he noted, pointing at the tiny wrinkle that had begun to form around her mouth. Fasha brushed the insult easier than she would have brush a fly away from her. She was a warrior after all, let the human females worry about their appearance, she would worry about what really mattered. "How is sweet little Turnia? I hope I didn't hurt her too bad, last time we met?"

"What?"

"That was him" Kakarot spoke through clenched teeth. "The spike we felt was not the kid's power increasing, it was Turles."

"You hurt her again... You're going to wish that you were in Planet Vegeta when Freeza blew it up, you bastard!" Fasha yelled as she charged her energy, a feral glow rising in her throat. Not phased in the least, Turles laughed softly and passed his hand through his black hair. "I didn't get a chance to beat you to a pulp before, but this time you're mine!"

And with one last scream, Fasha exploded in a golden firestorm. Her short black hair exploded and stood up at uneven angles, and her violet eyes turned a very light shade of blue, almost white. Her pink aura transformed into a golden firestorm, and the three Saiyans snickered behind her. Only the Namek remained his composure, looking at Turles with serious eyes.

"Now, now Fasha" Turles mocked her, scratching the black M embedded on his forehead, and all ten eyes fell on it. "Don't let your anger get the best of you, this won't be fun unless you concentrate and give it you all!"

"You'll eat those words" she glared at him.

"Master! Kindly transport us somewhere else. We will need more room!"

In a flash the six of them were no longer in the spaceship, but rather in a rocky area, so familiar yet so eerie to them.

"What? Where are we?"

"I'm not sure... are we on Earth?"

"No, this is not Earth. I don't know what Planet this is, but it is not Earth."

"It's simple, I thought I would make it fun for sweet dear Fasha over here" Turles explained with a grin. "This is the formerly called Planet Freeza 79... formerly called Planet Meat."

Her eyes went wide, and she immediately felt how a small bead of sweat traveled down her forehead. She recognized it right away. They weren't so far away from the landing site. Which meant that... Her breathing froze when she looked at it. Suggesh and Borgos were thrown one on top of the other, their eyes blank and dead. On top of them Tora was barely breathing, and a few feet away from them there she was, back when she had been so weak, back when they had still been working for Freeza. Raditz, Kakarot, Fasha, even Vegeta stared in completely silence as Bardock's spaceship crashed into the planet and the battered warrior emerged from it. With the tiniest corner of her mind she realized this was the first time Kakarot ever saw his father, and the first time since he was 15 that Raditz had seen him. She saw how both Saiyans had to visibly fight the impulse to look away. They saw how Bardock rushed towards Tora, how the proud warrior was reduced to near tears as his friend died on his arms. And then they saw it.

The one moment she had never spoke to Kakarot and Raditz. She suddenly knew why Turles had brought them here.

"Don't let him win" she told him, and Bardock's face remained the mask he had worn for so long, but she could tell by the way his muscles twitched, by the look in his eyes, how he felt.

"He will die by my hand" he said, and she heard Kakarot taking a sharp breath. That was the first time he had ever heard his father's voice.

"You've gotten so much stronger now" she told him as she took her frail hand and softly caressed his face in the most affectionate matter. "You can do it. If anybody can do it, it's you."

Kakarot's face turned to ice when he heard her words. The same words she had spoken to him so many times.

"And when I'm done with him I'm coming to get you back, to bring you back to planet Vegeta. I swear we'll be free, Fasha."

"Where are you taking me?" she asked him. And the real Fasha felt how the blood came rushing forward from her throat, even after all these years.

"The only place I consider safe for now" he answered as he pressed the button on his remote and gently placed her in the pod.

"What are you going to do?" she questioned him as she adjusted his soaked headband to make it look straight.

"I'm going to find another remote; hopefully these bastards came here in pods. I'll get back to Vegeta and warn everybody of the danger. You get out of here."

"Right... guess I'll see you back in Planet Vegeta" she murmured, and the space pod took off.

To her surprise, the scene didn't end, but it rather showed how Bardock turned back and walked towards his dead friends. He knelt in front of them and spoke some words none of them heard. He then stood up and they watched how he was ambushed by Dodoria, who proceeded to beat him to a pulp, until he was almost defeated. In a last ditch effort, Bardock fired his Riot Javelin at Dodoria, and the pink alien returned the blast to his face. Kakarot, Fasha, Raditz and Vegeta watched with horror. how Bardock went down, crashing and looking at the sky with dead eyes. She almost took her eyes off but Turles' voice forced her to keep them locked.

"Ah, ah, ah! There's more, it gets better" he mockingly told her.

It was a true testament to Bardock's power, it was more beautiful than the proudest anthem, it was mightier than the tallest mountain, it was the ultimate sign of strength for Fasha when she saw Bardock get up after that attack. She saw how he stumbled around, looking for a remote until he finally found it. He pressed a few keys and a few seconds later an attack ball arrived. They watched him as he rested in the pod, regaining his strength and more by the time he reached Freeza's ship. It was mesmerizing to watch.

Bardock ripped the pod's door off, jumped straight out and landed on the top of Freeza's ship, breathing normally thanks to the artificial atmosphere it created. Dozens of his men emerged, and the four Saiyans watched, completely enthralled how Bardock proceeded to smash them to pieces. He grabbed an alien's horns and ripped them off before impaling his face with them, he elbowed another one away before ripping another soldier's head off. With a scream he dashed forward and kicked two of them in their stomachs before elbowing their necks, breaking them. He turned around and with a roundhouse kick, he knocked a few of them away from him.

All of them gasped as he was grabbed from behind and an alien punched his stomach, but Bardock grunted as he pried himself loose. Kicking him in the face and flipping up in the air. He grabbed the alien that had held him before and with a feral scream he ripped his arms off throwing them to the ground.

"FREEZA! COME OUT AND FACE ME, YOU COWARD!" he yelled, making what few idiots that still had in their brains the idea to attack him, cower in fear. To their surprise the space ship's entrance opened, and the tiny lizard man that none of them was now afraid of emerged, sitting in his damn, chair. Her heart swelled with pride and respect when she saw him chuckling away at the tyrant. "I'll finish this. Everything will be decided here. Planet Vegeta's fate. Kakarot's fate... my own, and... YOURS TOO!" he yelled and his hand glowed with bright blue energy as he charged his ultimate attack, the one Fasha and the rest of the guys had mocked him for so long. His hand began to shake and she saw him stagger as he pushed all the energy to his hand. On the other side of the ship, they saw Freeza charging a tiny red and black energy ball.

Fasha was unable to stop the tears that came rushing out of her eyes. It was too much, but for Bardock's sake she continued watching she didn't want to see, but she had to. He closed his eyes involuntarily and forcefully opened them again. With one last surge his attack expanded somewhat more and he smiled one last time. Time stopped when she saw that smile, and he remembered all the time she had spent with him, watching him, fighting with him, eating, sleeping, living with him, all summed up in that smile. She felt like Bardock was smiling at her. And then he turned serious, looking at Freeza with his shining black eyes.

"THIS!" he yelled as he pulled his arm back. Every muscle tensed past their ripping point.

"ENDS!" his arm moved forward, using the last of his strength to propel the energy ball as fast as he could towards their most hated enemy.

"NOW!" The ball flew away from his hand, flying faster than any attack Bardock had ever thrown. The ball cut through the artificial atmosphere that Freeza's ship created around it. The ball approached Freeza at blinding speeds, almost too fast for them to see.

The ball disappeared.

All the Saiyans' eyes went wide and three of them fell to their knees as they watched how Freeza's red and black supernova expanded, larger and larger until Freeza looked like a tiny speck under it. They heard a maniacal laugh from the creature, and they saw how the huge energy ball came closer and closer towards them.

She did not even realize her hair had turned black, she did not realize her power level had pummeled back down to the ground, she did not notice Kakarot and Raditz crying in the ground like children, or Vegeta staring into the void with his eyes open wide and shaking furiously. She did not notice Turles snickering next to her, everything went black. All her feelings of pride, all her feeling of strength was sapped from her, she felt as weak as when Bardock had found her, and her shame consumed her.

Fasha snapped, and she screamed as the feelings exploded inside of her.

"FREEEEEEZAAAAAAA!" Fasha screamed with all her might.

"Babidi now!" Turles yelled.

00

Turnia was no longer looking at the Earth below, she was instead training as hard as she could, fighting the air and practicing new techniques while 18 watched her. On the other arena, Yamcha and Krillin were fighting at a level she did not match yet, but she soon would.

She held the red orb in her left hand, slowly charging it. What could she do with it? There were so many type of attacks, she could try an energy beam, but there were so many of those. An energy ball then? No, she could already do something like that. She had already copied Vegeta's Final Flash, and as long as he didn't catch her doing it there would be no problem, what could she do with her energy? It had to be something creative, but at the same time useful, something that would make her father and mother proud. She grinned as a thought came to her head. She could create an energy ball, but with a little special twist.

She grinned maliciously as she charged her energy and began to compact it.

00

She screamed until her throat was sore, until the air had completely left her body, she screamed until she heard nothing else. It had been too much. She had known that Planet Vegeta had been destroyed, she knew that Bardock had died fighting Freeza, she knew that he had faced him with his last breath, but actually watching it had been too much. Watching how every last hope they had was smashed in less than a second, watching how Freeza destroyed everything they knew and loved, it had been too much. Her anger exploded like it never had before, her fury knew no bounds as she relived Bardock's death over and over, and Fasha's power level soared with no limits.

Everything became white, and she did not see or hear anything else until her power stabilized. She heard the crack of thunder as her golden aura roared defiant around her, and her hair was standing up completely, with a single stubborn golden lock remaining in place.

Breathing heavily, Fasha looked around, and she recognized the people around her, they were still in planet Meat, but Kakarot was no longer on his knees crying, he was standing in front of her, looking at her with hate on his eyes.

"Kakarot?" she asked, her voice completely serious and carrying a strength she did not know she had.

He didn't answer, he only stared at her with his teal eyes as the thick black M carved on his forehead glowed softly.

00

_Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 31 Innocence and Wrath (Celtic Frost) on Bardock when he went to fight Freeza. He had both qualities, he wanted to safe his race from Freeza, all the while consumed by wrath at his friends' deaths, making him some sort of dual thingy Saiyan XD And it lost all sense of deepness at the end didn't it?_

_ Super Saiyan 2 Fasha vs Majin Kakarot! Get ready for a fight between these two Titans!_

_ Thank you so much for reading guys!_


	32. Rainmaker

Chapter 32

"Kakarot stop this!"

"Go to hell! You used me!"

"I didn't! Stop and think!"

"I hate you! I'll kill you!"

"Kakarot!"

"KA!"

"Kakarot no!"

"ME! HA! ME!"

"Don't do this!"

"HA!"

00

Turnia smiled as the red energy ball exploded above the island, bathing them all in red light. Just as she had planned, by concentrating the energy deep inside the ball and compacting it as much as she could, she could create a much more powerful explosion, even if it wasn't that large. Her enemies would understimate her power, and she could goad them into thinking her attack wasn't strong enough, and then she would hit them.

It was similar to Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon, even if it wasn't that strong, it was so concentrated and dense that it ate through everything, and it didn't requiere as much strength to perform it.

"Trunks and Gohan are _so_ dead" she snickered as she lowered herself back to the ground.

00

"Damn it! What the hell happened to him?"

"It's the same thing Turles has! This Babidi fool must be controlling him!"

"Babidi must use a person's evil intentions to take control of them!"

"Then why didn't he take over the rest of us? I mean we're not what we used to be, but we ain't goody two shoes either!"

"Ask me later!"

"Damn... he's tough."

"I'll say, we haven't even slowed him down."

"I'm reaching my peak, what about you two?"

"I'm just getting started."

"You weren't joking, this guy is really strong."

"Babidi must reach into the person and tap into their hidden power, no wonder Goku is giving Fasha such a hard time."

"Yeah I hadn't noticed. Those two are really destroying each other."

"Marital problems just got much more interesting."

"Shut up and focus, we need to take this idiot down!"

"You two better get down to where Babidi is."

"What for?"

"If we can't kill him, that might make Goku and Turles turn back to normal, not to mention it might prevent Majin Buu from being revived if this keeps up."

"So you're going to take him on your own?"

"Yes... Get going, I can't fight while you're here slowing me down."

Gritting their teeth, Raditz and Vegeta turned around and headed for the spaceship's entrance, hoping that the Namek was right and he could hold Turles on own, there were too many ifs. They landed and looked at the two Super Saiyans fighting in the horizon. The blasts could be felt all the way over here, and their power seemed to rise without limit.

"I feel like when we felt Kakarot fighting Freeza."

"I don't usually agree with you, but you're right... It's the same gap in our power... They've left us behind... shit."

"Come on, Vegeta! We got an old man to kill!" Raditz yelled as he pried open the ship's lock with great effort. Finally he ripped the purple blast door off it's hinges and jumped inside, followed by Vegeta, their golden glow leading the way.

00

She crossed her arms and raised a shield around herself as Kakarot kept adding power to his attack. The blue beam was consuming her, but she pushed her shield farther and farther away from her, giving her some room to breath. Without dropping it, she charged two golden energy balls in her hand, and split them into six tiny balls each. With a powerful scream she pushed her shield all the way and managed to break Kakarot's Kamehameha, throwing her attack as she did. The flurry of golden spheres made Kakarot jump out of the way, dodging two of them. The remaining ten turned in the air and followed him, striking him as he did his best to get away from them. With as much concentration as she could muster, Fasha charged one last sphere in her right hand while she used her left to maintain her attack on track, following and hitting Kakarot, but dealing very slight damage. She carefully guided him where she wanted him to go and she gave her attack one last surge of speed. The ten golden spheres collided against him, forcing him to cross his arms and raise his legs to protect himself. She quickly flew behind him and the same moment he turned around to face her she blasted him at point blank range, sending the furious Saiyan flying as her golden beam consumed him.

"Stop this, Kakarot!"

"No" he spoke behind her, and she started to turn around, but his elbow on her neck stopped her. He kicked her back and punched her head, before grabbing her leg and spinning her around and around, gaining more and more speed until she couldn't see anything clearly anymore. She fired blast after blast at him, but she was too dizzy, and none of them hit their mark. He finally released her, and she flew in a random direction before feeling his elbow on her chest, sending her crashing down to the ground. "I won't stop until you feel the same pain you made me feel! You used me, woman! I'll destroy you for that!"

She rose into the air, sweating as she eyed her former lover. Just like hers, his aura was surrounded with electric sparks, brimming to the core with power, his hair had stood up even more, and the furious snarl on his face spat venom at her. She eyed the damn black M, wishing she had told him all about it earlier.

"Don't do this Kakarot, you know what will happen! If we keep this up Majin Buu will be revived! Don't let Babidi control you!"

"I don't care about Babidi! I don't care about anything else! I will kill you! You used me! You used me!"

They clashed again, with Fasha pouring much more effort into dodging than blocking or striking Kakarot, trying again to put some reason on his mind.

"I never used you! I love you, you stubborn idiot!"

"You don't love me! You never wanted me! YOU WANTED HIM!" he screamed as he kicked her shoulder and grabbed her hair, throwing her down and blasting her with a golden beam that she effortlessly dodged. Despite the fact that she wasn't tired, not even hurt, she was aware of the incredible amount of energy they were expelling, if this kept up this thing would undoubtedly be unleashed, and if it was enough to worry the Namek, it was enough to worry her. "I was your replacement!"

"Stop speaking nonsense! I never wanted Bardock!" she lied through her teeth. "Bardock was my commander, nothing else!"

"LIAR!"

Again and again they clashed, making the already ravaged planet shake with each blow. For every punch Kakarot threw, for every kick he landed and every energy attack he fired, Fasha would respond in kind never ceasing in her attempt to calm him down, but if anything her words enraged him more, and she worried he would cross the line soon.

00

"This is not good" he mumbled as he shook his antennas. "It's only a matter of minutes before these two finish releasing the energy Majin Buu needs... Hurry Raditz, Vegeta" King Kai pleaded to them. "You need to find Majin Buu and destroy his pod before he's unleashed... Hurry!"

00

Raditz ran as fast as he could, allowing Vegeta to handle most of their enemies, just like the old days. Except in the old days he had stood back and watched, while now he raced forward unhindered to kill Babidi and stop this Majin Buu from gathering the energy he needed.

"Just a standard assassination and demolition" he mumbled to himself as he kicked another of Babidi's minions away from him. "Just like in Planet Crich... come on Raditz, get it done."

"Raditz, don't stop! I'm going to do something to stop these assholes permanently!"

"Roger that, Prince Boy! Don't worry about me!" he yelled into his scouter as he ran faster and faster. The bright golden glow came behind him and Raditz realized what Vegeta was going to do. "Oh, shit."

"FINAL FLASH!" he heard behind him, and the golden beam raced towards him as it consumed and destroyed anything and everything on its path. Hundreds of screams filled the air as Raditz jumped up and flew faster, gaining on the golden beam as it waned and flickered. The thick golden beam became thinner and thinner until it finally disappeared a few feet behind Raditz, who promptly left it behind.

"Stupid Turles building these stupid tunnels" Raditz mumbled as he bent down, right up and left, traversing the immensely intricate construction. He had already located Babidi's energy signal, but he couldn't really find a way to get to him, thanks to this maze like structure. And he couldn't blast his way there or the walls would absorb the energy. He felt his frustration and impatience grow larger and larger as he found himself at another dead end, turning around and retracing his steps. He finally found a somewhat larger tunnel and flew straight through it, reaching the end in a matter of seconds. "Gotcha, you sneaky shit!"

00

Fasha kicked Kakarot's head with her left feet and brought her right leg forward, clutching his head with her knees.

"That won't work on me!" he yelled as he tried to pry himself loose, but Fasha's grip was deadly, and once she got a hold, she didn't let go. "You think this puny ground can hurt me?"

"I wasn't going to crash you" she told him deadly serious, and Kakarot stopped trying to pry himself loose and looked at her hands glowing golden.

He screamed as she began to throw energy blast after energy blast, making all of them collide at point blank range, and scarring Kakarot's face. He responded by charging his own attack and firing it at her back, and she cried in pain as she let him loose and kicked him down. Breathing heavily, she watched how he rose up and threw her that look that frightened her so much.

"I'll kill you" he softly stated, and the way he said it made her skin crawl and her blood freeze in fear.

"Don't do this Kakarot, we have a daughter!" she pleaded, but he ignored her and charged his energy higher and higher.

00

He threw his attacks until his arms felt like lead, filling the sky with hundreds of golden little spheres.

"Shit" Turles mumbled as he raised his own energy as high as it would go, forming a purple sphere around himself.

"Hellzone Grenade!" The Namek yelled as he clasped his hands together, bringing the hundreds of energy attacks crashing down like a hellish rain of pain down on Turles, who screamed as the effort to keep the continuous energy rain from colliding against his body took his toll on him. He finally ran out of energy balls and he took some time to breath.

"Nice trick, too bad it leaves you completely open!" Turles yelled as he charged forward, punching his gut and kicking him away.

"It doesn't matter, with the strength you have left your punches don't even hurt me anymore" he answered with a grin as he wiped the purple blood from his mouth. "I'll just finish you at a leisured pace."

The Namek and The Saiyan clashed, fighting at a level that rivaled that of the two Saiyans on the other side of the planet. Before they knew it, their battle had moved across the planet, and when he kicked Turles back, they found themselves next to an exhausted Fasha.

"Get away from me!" she yelled as she kneed Turles away, making him crash against him, resuming their fight. Taking advantage of the diversion Goku hit her in the stomach and she responded by elbowing his arm, making them both retreat. The rest of the fight was lost to him as he concentrated again on Turles.

00

Turnia could feel the energy in the air, but something was wrong. She had asked Bulma to scan the planet again and again, but the machine had gone haywire, her scouter detected millions of power levels around her, all of them slightly lower than her own, and she could reach no conclusion as to what was going on.

"Stupid machines" she said as she looked around, but Gohan and Trunks looked uneasy, they felt it too. The energy in the air had risen much more than usual for no apparent reason, and their parents had not returned.

"What do you think happened?" Gohan asked her as he sat down on the tournament arena, looking at the air around them with great interest.

"I don't know, there is no reason for this to occur... I've never seen anything like this."

"Maybe we should..."

"Should what?"

"Go down there!" Trunks finished for him as he landed in front of them, looking at the pair with exasperated eyes. "Something is wrong! It's been two hours, they should be done with this by now!"

"We can't go down there" Turnia told him, and Trunks rolled his eyes at her. "We'll only get in the way! You didn't get hit by Turles, he took me out with one blow! And I'm much stronger than you two! If we go down there we won't be able to do anything!"

"You're just scared your mommy is going to get mad at you!" Trunks taunted her, and for the briefest seconds Turnia literally saw red. She dashed forward and kneed him in the stomach before slapping him in the face.

"You idiot! We're not going down there and it's final!" she yelled at him with as much command in her voice as she could muster, hoping that Prince Vegeta wouldn't get too mad at her for ordering Trunks around like that. "If I have to tell you two again I will do so with my fists!"

The boys grumbled and complained, and Trunks shot her a dirty look, but after a few seconds they floated back to the village, and Turnia looked down at the ground with a sigh.

"Don't let it get to you, you did the right thing" a voice came from behind, and she turned around to see a blonde woman looking at her with a smile. "Boys are rowdy creatures, sometimes you need to slap some sense into them."

"I guess."

"But Trunks did make an interesting point... it's been far too long. They should have returned by now" 18 said, looking up at the sky. Turnia bit her lip and swallowed, visibly nervous to hear a grown up confessing what she felt inside of her. She didn't see 18 sapphire eyes looking at her with interest, but she looked up when she spoke. "I'll go and check it out."

"What?"

"You guys are forbidden to go, but I'm not. I'll see what's happening and I'll get back to you."

"Thank you" Turnia mumbled softly, somewhat embarrassed she was being offered help.

"Don't mention it" 18 said. She flew away and she watched how she became smaller and smaller, leaving no trace behind.

00

Fasha screamed as Kakarot punched her stomach again and again, her hands and feet completely bound by his yellow energy rings.

"You have no idea what it feels like! In an instant... everything came crashing down!" he yelled at her as he punched her again. "With a single sentence you brought my entire world down! I hate you!"

"Kakarot" she mumbled to him, but he ignored her.

"Everything you said, everything you did... it meant nothing! You used me to fulfill you own desires! Everything I've done is nothing to you!"

"Kakarot."

"I did everything for you! Ever since I was a child! Everything I've done was for you! And you lied to me!"

"Kakarot, please" she gasped as another blow connected with her stomach. "Listen to me!"

"WHAT? What could you possibly say now?" he yelled as he punched her face, looking at her with even more hatred than before. "What could you possibly do now?"

"You're wrong... you're letting Babidi do this to you! Don't let him take you from me! You fought and defeated Freeza, you can do the same to him! Beat him, fight him back."

"He's not controlling me, Fasha" Kakarot told her with a malicious grin. "He merely showed me how I really felt, he showed me what you had done to me!"

"No! This was Turles' plan! Don't you see? That's why he showed us that! To put you against me!"

"SHUT UP!" he yelled, blasting her stomach with an energy wave. She screamed in anguish as she felt her bodysuit rip open and her skin turn a charcoal black as the energy blast burned into her. With the last of her strength she exploded the energy around her, creating an explosive wave that sent Kakarot flying back a few meters. "You won't talk your way out of this! I'll kill you for what you've done to me!"

"Kakarot" she pleaded before another punch, this one even stronger than the ones before collided against her stomach. She screamed again, her voice ripping in her now bleeding throat. "KAKAROOOOOOOT!"

"DIE ,FASHA!" he yelled as he jumped back, charging his energy in the usual stance she had come to known so well. "KAAAAAA! MEEEEEEEE! HAAAAAAAA! MEEEEEEE!"

The blue light filled his hands and blinded her, and her skin crawled as she felt Kakarot gathering much more energy than what was necessary to kill her. The Earth trembled as all his energy kept gathering in his hands. He didn't want to kill her, he wanted to erase her from existence. Had she really done that to him? Or had Babidi truly corrupted him? She had no way of knowing, what she knew from the blue glow in his hands and the pure unadulterated hatred seething from his eyes was that Kakarot loathed her, he truly hated her, there was no doubt about it. A stray tear came from her eye again.

00

He hated her, he was going to kill her. Down to the last bit of energy he had went to his hands and he felt his feet going numb. His vision became slightly blurred as he sent even more energy to his hands, and the blue glow in his hands grew even more. He saw her cry, and something in his mind ticked. Fasha was crying. Why? He had to stop whatever was making her cry. No. He had to kill her. He hated her. Yes that was it. He hated her, she had lied to him, she had humiliated him. She never loved him, she never wanted him, she wanted Bardock. She wanted his father, not him. But she did love him didn't she? They had a daughter together, didn't they? No, no, no, no, something wasn't right. He hated her. Yes that was it, he hated her, and he had to kill her, that was all that mattered. He hated her. He hated Fasha, and he was going to kill her and enjoy every moment of it.

"HAAAAAAAA! MEEEEEEE!" he screamed as he pushed all his energy. It was pure willpower that allowed him to stand. He had to kill her, he had to. There was no other way. He had to kill her.

"I'm sorry" she whispered, and everything stopped for him.

00

It wasn't unheard of ever since the Tree of Life was planted, but rain had become so rare that they loved every moment of it. Even Turnia's concerns were dissipated when she saw the thick gray clouds coming on the horizon. It was so rare that every drop was a blessing. Sure they had tiny drizzles in their island, but that was nothing, the true rain, the rain that came from the Earth was something that she loved. She watched with dreamy eyes how the first raindrops began to fall.

00

He breathed a sigh of relief as Turles tried to get up and failed. The fallen Saiyan snickered and laughed, coughing up blood as he did, but that did nothing to damper his humor.

"You gave me a run for my money, Namek" he sputtered as he finally managed to lift his head and chest from the ground.

"You were stronger than I expected" he admitted, slowly charging his remaining energy on his hands. "But you will met your end, just like your master."

"Master? Don't... don't make me laugh" Turles said, finally getting into sitting position. His unique armor was cracked in hundreds of places, and blood was pouring from his body. If he didn't kill him he would die soon. "I only... went along for... for the laughs" he said before he laughed even more.

"Laughs?"

"Fooled everybody" he said as he placed everything he had on his elbows, getting enough strength to place his injured back against a nearby rock. Having done that, he visibly relaxed. "I fooled Babidi... fooled Kakarot, Turnia... Raditz and Vegeta... fooled all of you... Even fooled a God himself. Ha, ha, ha, ha."

"Fooled us, you say?"

"It was fun... I don't regret anything. That fight was nothing short of spectacular, Namek."

He stopped charging his energy and looked at the man who was laughing himself to death.

"What do you mean you fooled Kami?"

"There was never... any danger... Ha, ha, ha" he explained as he held his sides. "There was no danger before Kakarot went insane."

"My patience runs thin, answer my questions and I will put you out of your misery."

"Majin Buu will never be revived" he said with a chuckle. "I made certain of it..."

"How?"

"The power cords... I severed them... Babidi... will be pissed. He, he, he... The only danger now... is Kakarot..."

"Why do this? Why fool all of us? Why toy around with such danger?" he asked him angrily, furious at the man.

"Why?" he asked, and his eyes light up in joy, in true, pure joy. "Why not?"

"Why... not?"

"It was fun... every second of it. Seeing their reactions to Bardock's failure... Fasha going wild, Kakarot going... insane... Babidi taking control... It was hilarious" he said before he burst out in a maniacal laughter. He watched him with both terror and hatred in his eyes. The man was a lunatic, desiring nothing but pain and chaos to roam free. "And now... now Kakarot is stronger than all of you combined... now... Kakarot's going to blow this thing up..."

"You idiot" he mumbled before he took off, leaving the dying Saiyan alone.

"It was all worth it" he said to himself. "Every second of it... And now... now I gotta get some rest" Turles softly spoke before he closed his black eyes. A stray gust of wind fluffed his spiky hair one last time, and a few drops of rain fell on his forehead.

18 spared only a look at the smiling Saiyan before she followed Piccolo.

"Lucky bastard... not everybody dies happy."

00

Kakarot looked at Fasha with wide eyes, doing his best to maintain his focus on his energy blast.

"What?"

"I'm... sorry. I should have told you... I'm sorry" she whispered, barely audible. Her golden tail unclasped itself from her waist and hung low. Her eyes and hair flickered and waned, returning to their usual color. He eyed her carefully, but she made no attempt to move, no attempt to attack him. Why wasn't she attacking him, she hated him too right? She hated him just as he hated her. Yes she hated him and he hated her, that was the way things were. "I should have told you everything, but... I was frightened... I never wanted to relive that moment... but... I should have told you everything, Kakarot."

"You admit it, then" he said, still not lowering his stance but not charging more power either. "You lied to me, you used me."

He faintly heard the rain falling down on top of them, the wind running around them, softly caressing them both. The few stray drops that fell around them gave way to a mighty deluge, but he barely noticed it.

"At the beginning... yes... I could think of nothing but Bardock... that was all... but when you grew, when... you became your own man... I knew you were the one, not... not Bardock... It was you, Kakarot, it was always you..."

His mind worked faster and harder than it had ever worked before as he tried to stop the incessant thoughts that came to his mind.

The energy he had gathered disappeared, the blue glow completely gone. The cold rain fell on his now relaxed body, his eyes firmly locked on her own violet ones so close yet so far away. He spared a glance at the desert they were in, back on Earth. A million voices came to him, calling to him, telling him all sorts of truths, spinning the truth and trying to confuse him, but there was one thing he was certain of, Fasha did not hate him.

He turned his face to the barren sun to his right, setting low on the Earthen horizon, bathing them with a golden glow. His eyes shone brightly as he looked at the golden disc slowly descending. His wet eyes looked down at the ground and above at the sky, enjoying the tiny droplets traveling his cheeks, his face, his hair, his forehead, his neck, down his chest and through his stomach. He felt how the rain fell on his pants and it traveled down his legs, forming a tiny pool around his boots.

He didn't notice 18 and the Namek landing away from them, looking at them with great curiosity and interest. They weren't important right now.

"It was you..." Fasha repeated, and her voice came crystal clear to him, he heard the way her sore throat sounded, how the beauty of her words were warped by the wind around them, how her mouth and lips moved in sync with the sound, how her eyes spoke the truth to him. And like a choir of angels singing to him, she pronounced the last word. "Kakarot."

He slowly walked over to her, stepping over the cracks he had made with his power in the barren ground. He stepped over a small rock and dropped to the ground again. His boot got stuck in a large crack where a large rock had violently split in half. Without taking his eyes off her, he pulled hard, removing his boot as he took another step. Her face became larger and larger, and he was able to see every tiny detail on it.

The tiny wrinkle that Turles had mocked her before, so many hundreds of centuries ago. The shining in her violet eyes, the small scars that she had accumulated over the years. The way her slender neck muscles tensed as she tried to keep her head straight. The place were her skin had ripped, making way for a small smear of bright red blood on her forehead. He stopped when she was so close he could smell her. He could smell her sweat, he could smell her blood, her scent, her hair, everything.

_00_

_ "When I was wandering in the desert  
And was searching for the truth  
I heard a choir of angels calling out my name  
I had the feeling that my life would never be the same again  
I turned my face towards the barren sun  
And I know of the pain that you feel the same as me  
And I dream of the rain as it falls upon the leave  
And the cracks in our lives like the cracks upon the ground  
They are sealed and are now washed away  
You tell me we can start the rain  
You tell me that we all can change  
You tell me we can find something to wash the tears away  
You tell me we can start the rain  
You tell me that we all can change  
You tell me we can find something to wash the tears..."_

_ Iron Maiden, Dance of Death, Rainmaker, 2003._

_00_

The water drops fell heavier and faster now, covering the ravaged Earth. Kakarot breathed deeply and slowly as he looked at Fasha's face, staring back at him with so many emotions, too many for him to process. His own mind was swarmed with feelings he couldn't quite understand.

He finally reacted when he felt something soft and cold hitting his cheek. He didn't know what it was, but right now it didn't matter much, Fasha's face was much more important. With extremely gentleness and care, he brought his hand up and stroked her cheek with his rough thumb, resting his fingers on her neck. His teal eyes poured out invisible tears that were gone with the fallen rain, wiping all trace of them.

00

Fasha closed her eyes as she felt his warm hand caressing her face, the first time he had ever done so. She blushed at the contact, much like she had seen those human women do so when touched by their mates. Any other time she would have been ashamed, but not right now.

When she opened them again she could see the pain and confusion in his teal colored eyes. The same as her own.

She heard two more individuals landing next to the others, but she didn't pay much attention, Kakarot's face was much more important.

00

Turnia watched as he father stroked her mother's cheek as the rain poured down on her, making her hair give up some of it's usual stubbornness and adopting a much more relaxed state. It now reached past her waist, and looked as straight as it could possibly look. Her black eyes shone as she descended to the ground, next to Raditz and Vegeta, who didn't comment on the fact that she was here. Everybody was deathly silent as they watched the Saiyans.

00

"Fasha."

"It's okay, Kakarot... It's okay" she told him as reassuringly as she could. "I'm so sorry about everything... I'm sorry."

"Fasha" he repeated, moving slightly closer to her, water dripping from his forehead as the thick black M slowly faded into nothing. "Fasha..."

The bonds restraining her arms and legs disappeared, and she collapsed forward. Kakarot caught her in his powerful arms and held her like a child, looking at her with onyx eyes. His black hair slumped down due to the heavy rain, and his gaze penetrated her to her very core.

"Kakarot... it's over" she whispered to him. "It's fine now."

"Fasha" he mumbled again, and only then did she notice he was sitting on the ground, his foot stuck in another crack in the ground.

With a caring hand she grabbed his armor and adjusted it, rubbing his arm when she was done.

"There we go... much better" she said as she made sure there were no other imperfection on his armor. She ran a hand through his wet hair and got rid of a tiny rock that had lodged itself there a minute ago. She ran her hand through his face as he kept staring at her, cleaning a few specks of dust that the rain had failed to remove. "Now you're good... to go."

"Fasha... I'm... sorry" he whispered, and the thick black M disappeared into nothing.

The rain fell down heavier on them, seeping through the cracks on the ground and deep into the core of the Earth, bathing it. Kakarot got his foot out of the crack and stood up, smiling at her softly before he pressed his lips on hers.

_00_

_ Fun Facts!_

_ Chapter 32 Rainmaker (Iron Maiden) on Kakarot's and Fasha's confrontation._

_ This chapter I had a really, really hard time writing. Most of it came spontaneously, but the last few pages were extremely difficult to write and I actually had to write and rewrite them again and again. Guys if you can, please listen to the song rainmaker, I will really make a lot of things clearer and it served for great inspiration at the time of writing._

_ To date this makes Iron Maiden the only band I've used twice. I really wanted to avoid repeating bands, but after listening to the song I just had to do it._

_ Oh, just to clarify a few things, Kakarot also reached Super Saiyan 2 when Babidi took control of him (duh). Turles is obviously dead, and everybody else not mentioned in the story is either in the island or at the Lookout. Just to make sure there are no plot holes!_

_ As always, please tell me what you guys think! Thank you so much for reading guys!_


	33. We Are The Champions

Chapter 33

They all acted like nothing had happened, like nothing had happened at all. Vegeta continued training as hard as ever. Raditz and Gohan would go to the Lookout just like they used to. Kakarot would sleep 14 hours a day and train the rest of the time, teaching Turnia as much as he could. 18 would divide her time between aiding Bulma in her work and being with Krillin. The humans would relax much more, but they still continued training, specially Tien. Life seemed to return to what it was before Turles came along and ruined everything with his stupid antics.

But not for her. Kakarot forgave her, but for Fasha things were not yet over. She could hide it from them, of course. Years of practice had allowed her to hide her emotions better than anybody else, but she could feel it, the guilt, the shame, the pain. Hundreds of scenarios ran through her mind every night as she rested next to Kakarot, and she shed quiet tears when she was certain nobody was watching her.

The days turned into a blur as she retreated more and more into herself. Even though she tried to maintain a healthy appearance she now ate much less than before. Slightly more than twice what the humans ate, and at a much slower pace. Every one of them eyed her with curiosity and concern, and she loathed their gazes.

Her brain forced her to relive the entire ordeal, the look in Kakarot's eyes, the way she had been forced to admit everything to him, the shame she had felt when she was forced to remember everything... It burned her, that was the best way to put it, it burned her. She looked at the barren Earth below her, as small tears fell from her violet eyes. She no longer attempted to hide them, she was much too tired.

"Why?" she mumbled to herself. "Why did you choose her? Why her? Why not me? I was stronger... Why her?"

The wind whispered in her ears and with a sigh she stood up from the ground. She had wanted to blame Berean's power level, she had wanted to. It would have made things so much easier. She could have easily accepted the fact that Berean was stronger than her and that was why Bardock chose her as her mate for a second time. But she couldn't. Last time she had checked, when Bardock had left her pregnant, Berean had a power level of 900, significantly less than her. She was taller, she was stronger, she was better in every sense! Why had Bardock not chosen her? Why had he passed her by and chosen Berean... again? Had there been something wrong with her? Was there something wrong with her still? And like an incessant nagging in the back of her voice she heard her voice again, telling her to shut up.

_"I'm made of tougher stuff than you are!"_

"Dinner's ready" the android's voice came from behind, and she hoped she hadn't heard her. She didn't respond, she simply walked back to the village. Giving her that cold, empty glare, 18 rose into the air and flew towards the village, leaving her alone. That was what she wanted really, to be left alone and think.

Berean had said that, many, many times. In fact she had said that every time she had fought her. She repeated it like a mantra, and soon Bardock had begun to say it too. She had kept quiet about it, because she knew Tora would have never stopped bothering him if he ever found out his favorite catchphrase had been stolen, from a low class warrior, no less. She opened the gate and stepped inside to be greeted by the one person that could possibly make this worse.

"Whatcha up to?" Raditz asked, smiling at her with that stupid smirk of his.

His eyes were Bardock's there was no denying it, but his mouth, his eyebrows, his hair, the way he spoke with the same cocky tone, even the way he stood was exactly the same as her. She hated it. She had managed to hide it before, but now it was becoming too much for her, and she had to fight the impulse to punch his ugly face and beat him to a pulp, and had her daughter not landed right next to him she might have.

"Hey mom! Dinner's ready, come on!" she urged her, grabbing her hand and forcefully pulling her. She looked at her with an even face and noted how the resemblance was even more evident in her. Her own child, and she looked just like her. She felt like if fate had decided to play a cruel joke on her. "Mom?"

"I'm coming" she mouthed, slowly walking with her. She could feel Raditz' eyes burning into her skull.

_00_

_ "She looks more like Raditz than Kakarot."_

_ "She looks like Berean... A lot like Berean."_

_ "And you dislike that, why?"_

_ "I don't."_

_ "Right."_

_00_

Damn that woman, she thought as she grabbed the bowl in front of her and did her best to eat. She did so almost mechanically, eating for the sake of replenishing her body, not because she wanted to. Berean had always said that she was tougher, no matter who she was fighting. She would get beaten to a pulp and she would stand up and mock her opponent for being weak. She could make even an elite like Bardock feel like a third class reject. She remembered the beating Bardock had given her when she refused to stand down at the bar. He had beaten her senseless, and when she had woken up she had furiously looked for the 'wimpy fool' that had attacked her.

His face had been priceless, she recalled. She had barged in the middle of their training, bloody, bruised and with a dislocated arm. She threw the most creative and degenerate insults at him and had attacked him, only for him to kick her and throw her out the door. Twenty minutes later, when they were going to leave they found her crawling towards the door, trying to get up. Despite having a broken nose, probably cheekbones and maybe even a neck, she had spat blood at Bardock's shoes and told him that she could beat him with one arm tied behind her back and both eyes closed. Boy had he been pissed at her.

"Auntie Fasha, aren't you hungry?" Gohan asked as he finished his fifth plate of food and grabbed the sixth. "You haven't eaten anything!" he stated, pointing at the only empty plate she had placed next to her. Without answering she placed the pig leg down and stood up, leaving the shocked group behind. Even Kakarot stopped eating and stood up after her.

"Fasha!" he called after her, but she didn't bother to respond. She walked towards their home and threw herself in her bed, not even taking her armor off. "Fasha?"

She did her best to pretend to be asleep, but Kakarot had lived with her since he had been born, and he knew her all too well. He simply stood next to her and looked down at her.

"I shouldn't be alive" she finally whispered.

"What?"

"I should be dead... I shouldn't be here... Raditz shouldn't be here, Vegeta shouldn't be here, Gohan, Trunks... none of us should exist."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm tired, Kakarot."

"You haven't trained in days, you don't eat, you don't sleep... You're not fighting anymore Fasha."

"What is there to fight?"

"You know what I mean!" he angrily snapped at her.

"I don't want to talk" she told him in a tone that harbored no chance of debate.

"Fine" he muttered as he exited the room and left her alone.

00

Turnia had, of course, seen her parent's fight. Hell, they wouldn't be Saiyans if they didn't fight every now and then, but she had never seen them act like this. She did her best to give them their room and to train as far away from them as possible, but it worried her to no end. She focused on perfecting her new move, but to her dismay, Fasha had bit her lip when she saw it and left without a word. Her dad had praised her when he saw it, and he acknowledged that it packed a much bigger punch that he had expected, but she had seen his eyes, his mind was somewhere else.

She combed her hair behind her ear and the same stray lock fell on her forehead between her eyes. And here she had hoped things would go back to normal after they killed this Babidi idiot.

With a sigh she walked under the soothing sun and took her boots and gloves off, allowing her skin to keep it's nice tan color. She removed her armor and her bodysuit, jumping in the water stark naked. The little girl swam between the rocks, kicking the few stray fish that tried to eat her or simply out swimming them.

Her head was filled with hundreds of different questions and feelings. It was taking a toll on her fragile Saiyan brain.

"No child should have to think this much" she spoke to herself as she floated on the lake, her eyes gazing at the bright blue sky.

"I agree!"

"DAMN IT!" she yelled as she splashed around. "TRUNKS, YOU IDIOT!"

"Hi, hi, hi. Gotcha!"

"What are you doing here?" she asked, throwing him a murderous look.

"Taking a swim. Hey, want to go check out the other humans on the other island?"

"What? What for?"

"I heard that when your dad made the wish, he wished for an island that was perfect for them, but that would allow them to become stronger. Wouldn't it be cool if our island was like that?"

"Our island _is_ like that!"

"No it's not" he said, scratching his legs underwater with his tail. "It's just perfect, but not perfect to become stronger."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we should go and see what this island is like!"

She thought about it. She was not banned to go to the other island. After she had gone down to Earth to watch her parent's fight they hadn't even prohibited her to go back there when she wanted, but did she even want to go? What would be there? She hadn't even bothered to scan the island, she was certain it would be pitiful.

"Fine" she finally said, making Trunks laugh in delight.

"I knew it! Let's get dressed and go!" he yelled, rising in the water and landing next to his clothes. He got inside of them in a second and he impatiently tapped his foot on the ground as he waited for her to get dressed.

"Shut up."

"I'm not talking!"

"Stop moving them" she warned him as she slipping in her boots. "Let's go."

00

Videl looked at the two children that had just dropped from the sky like two rocks, and she dropped the basket of oranges she was holding.

"What?"

"Oh look, a girl" the boy said, and she ran to her. It took all her self control not to shriek and run. "Hey, who are you?"

"I. I'm... Videl" she mumbled, looking at both of them with wary eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Trunks" the boy announced with a proud smile on his face. "Future Prince of ALL Saiyans" he said the last part throwing the girl a sideways look. She rolled her eyes and ignored him. "And that's Turnia! She's another Saiyan. She's the daughter of the man that wished this island for you!"

"The-The island? His daughter?" she asked, her blue eyes as wide as they would go. "You're... Goku's daughter?"

"Goku?" the girl asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "My father's name is Kakarot!" she angrily declared.

"I'm sorry! That's what I meant!" she blurted, hastily apologizing. She had seen first hand the power those people with tails had, and she didn't want to anger any of them, not in the least. Swallowing hard she looked at the boy, who seemed much more interested in the island than in her. "So... Why are you here?"

"We wanted to check out your island!" Trunks said, floating above her and looking around. "Doesn't look that different from ours... but it's smaller."

"Smaller?"

"Yeah, you could barely spar in this one without falling down. How do you manage?"

"They don't need that much room, Trunks" Turnia explained before Videl had a chance to open her mouth. "They can't even fly."

She visibly had to swallow the smart remark she had in her throat, remembering that the girl in front of her was probably more than capable of killing her with a mere finger.

"Mmm... I hadn't thought of that."

"Something on your mind?" she asked her, looking at her with her dangerous black eyes. She might be Goku's daughter, but she didn't seem to share the same level of concern as her father. It was nothing unexpected, he had warned them to never try to contact them or they might meet a harsh response, she just never expected for them to be contacted.

"Ah... NO! Nothing, nothing! I was just uh... curious as to why you would try to... ah... grace us with your presence!" she hoped that was enough, but if only the girl grew angrier.

"Can it, he's the prince, not me!" she said, and she too floated in the air. "So what's you village like?"

"Village? Oh, right. It's big" she explained, somewhat more relaxed. "It's got thick heavy walls around it that keep us safe, and enough room for everybody. It's perfect really."

"Mmm... just like ours."

"Beg your pardon?"

"Nothing."

"And what of the wilderness? You got animals?"

"Animals, yeah. Plenty, and dinosaurs too" Videl answered, not knowing if it would be prudent to ask them. "The truth is... there's a lot of them in here, and we're having a hard time leaving the village to pick up the harvest or get meat, many of them are really scared about them."

"The dinosaurs?" the girl asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Ah, yes. We have very few people who are actually capable of going out."

"You mean these little fellas?" Trunks asked, holding a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex over them.

"I, ah... yes, those..." she asked, staring at the huge dead creature even more in shock. "I know it's a lot to ask, but... could you possibly... take care of some of them?"

"That would go against my father's wishes" Turnia spoke with severe authority, even more than the boy had. "We cannot help you."

"I see... I understand... If I may ask, why not? I mean it really is no trouble for you."

"Videl, blowing this island out of the sky would be no trouble for me, but Dad wants you humans to become stronger. He wants all of you to become what his friends have become."

"Stronger?"

"He wished for the dinosaurs to be here, just like he wished for your perfectly safe village and your beautiful grasslands. He wished for everything to be exactly this way so you humans will become stronger. So far his plan seems to have worked."

"I don't understand."

"You're here, aren't you?" she said, grinning at her. Delighted at the fact that she seemed smarter than her.

"I... I guess."

"Why are you here alone?" Trunks asked, having returned from dropping the dead dinosaur a few meters away from them. It took Videl at least an entire minute to recover from watching the little boy she could probably lift with one hand throw a beast that could squash her easily, but she finally managed to do so.

"I had to come" she answered. "There was nobody else that could come with me."

"Why?"

"Well..." she hesitated, but the children's gaze drove her on. "Almost everybody else can't come. What few men were fit to travel and carry the food had to take care of their wives and children. I'm the only one that has nobody to take care off, so I volunteered to come."

"Mister Kakarot might have overdone it, don't you think Turnia?" Trunks asked, but Turnia shot him a dirty look and he fell silent.

"How many humans are living in your village?"

"50, maybe more" she answered, picking up the basket and neatly piling the oranges again.

"And of 50 NOBODY could come help you?"

"I... I guess not."

"Ridiculous" she said, and Videl saw how even Trunks nodded in agreement.

"Why? How many people live in your island?"

"15."

"15? And you... You handle just fine?"

"More than fine" a voice above the three of them came, and Goku landed next to his daughter, putting his arm around her shoulder. "We're great."

"Mister Goku... It's a pleasure to see you again" she stammered, doing her best to ignore Turnia's venomous glare. The girl did NOT like her, that much was plain.

"They're making you do the heavy work again, Videl."

"I..." she stammered, unsure of how to answer.

"Don't bother... This is a waste of time."

"What is?"

"This entire ordeal... I wasted my wish. Even now humans haven't changed."

"What do you mean?" she asked, fearful of what he might do.

"Look at this! They send a young girl to get food for them knowing of the danger that lurks outside! They're cowards, every last one of them... I never should have brought them here."

"No! Don't blame them! Please!"

"Why not? I gave them a second chance and all they do is repeat the mistakes they did before the Tree of Might was planted."

"But, but..."

"Dad" Turnia said, and Goku seemed to calm down as he looked at her. "I was thinking... you might have been too harsh on them."

"Too harsh?"

"I mean look at her" Turnia said, pointing her finger at Videl. Whatever anger and humiliation she might have felt was completely gone by the fact that Turnia seemed to be calming Goku. "She's the best they have, and she can't survive on her own for long here, she can't even take out a single dinosaur!"

"So? You have a suggestion?"

"Yeah, why don't you train them?"

"What?"

"Yeah, what?" Trunks asked, suddenly curious.

"I mean, they clearly will die here unless you give them a little help" she went on, and again Videl held her tongue at her insults. "I think they might actually amount to something, instead of being the pathetic beings they are."

"You want me to train them?"

"Well it's not like you have anything better to do. My training is nearly complete and soon I'll work on my own, and since you turned Super Saiyan 2 you don't need to work as hard to keep up with Prince Vegeta."

"I won't waste my time with them" he said bluntly, but he looked at his daughter with a grin. "You will."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, what?" Trunks asked again.

"Since you seem so concerned about them, give them a hand, train them. Give them the skills to survive in this place."

"Me?"

"Why not? All you need to teach them is how to use their energy, after that if they don't strive to become better on their own then they are truly not worth the air they breathe."

Videl watched how father and daughter conversed, feeling extremely minuscule in their presence. It wasn't something she could put her finger on, but there was something about them that made her feel tiny, even the little boy with purple hair floating around them with a grin on his face, he made her feel like she was a fly and he was a giant.

"I guess" the defeated girl finally said, and Videl turned her attention back to the duo.

"Good. Make sure to not make it too easy on them, it's not fair if they don't struggle!" Goku said as he rose in the air and left them alone.

"Oh, I won't" the girls said with a malicious grin as her eyes bore into Videl's. Her skin crawled as she watched the little girl rise up in the air, joining Trunks. "I'll come back tomorrow to teach you and the best fighters you have in your village how to survive in here! Be ready."

"Ah, tomorrow? But I-" she started, but she left without waiting for her explanation.

"You should get going" Trunks warned her a grin as he slowly approached her. "Think of this as a preview to your training tomorrow!"

Before she could ask what he meant he flicked his hands forward and threw something at her, which she recognized as blood. Before she could ask why he was covering her in blood she heard a roar and a snicker and a very angry and hungry dinosaur came stomping towards her.

"Oh... Fuck" she mumbled before he roared again, looking at her with delight on his eyes. "Fuck."

00

Fasha wasn't feeling any better in the Lookout than in the village, but at least in here she didn't have to suffer their gazes silently asking her if she was fine.

"There must be a very important reason to be here."

"Can't a girl just visit?"

"Of course she can, but you haven't visited me once ever since you came to this planet."

"Look Piccolo" she started turning around to send him away, but his serious gaze stopped her on her tracks. His eyes glowed for the briefest seconds before he shook his head. "What?"

"For all your power you Saiyans are not that different to the Humans I'm supposed to watch over."

"What?"

"Jealousy does not become you, Fasha" Piccolo said as he walked away from her. "You are stronger than that."

Fasha shot off like a bullet, flying as fast as she could. There had to be somewhere in this Planet that she could go!

00

The Tree was of course, still there, looking just as mighty as it had always looked. She landed on the smallest branch and sat down on it, her legs swinging freely beneath her.

"Stupid Piccolo, stupid Kakarot, stupid Bardock, stupid Berean" she muttered much like Trunks would have. It was true, what he had said. Jealousy wasn't something she had ever experienced, and if she ever had, she had done an excellent job at keeping it hidden, even from herself. "Stupid God."

"You also used to not blame others for your problems."

Placing her head between her hands she sighed in defeat. Quickly wiping her tears.

"What do you want?"

"I want to return to Namek, and live the rest of my life among my brothers without having to worry about these humans and your problems, but that cannot happen until another Guardian is chosen."

She sighed again and looked at the Namek, who had a look of genuine interest in his face, a look Fasha had only seen devoted to combat or their enemies.

"Why are you here?"

"To listen."

She was silent for perhaps another hour, and in that entire time he did not move.

"I wish... I wish he had chosen me instead" she finally admitted out loud.

"Don't waste your time wishing for things that are impossible" he answered bluntly, and despite the fact that she knew it, she cringed when she heard his rough response. "If he had chosen you things would have turned out extremely different. You probably wouldn't be alive right now."

"I know... I guess I just need to know why he chose her, why he passed me so quickly and instead chose her!"

"The answer to that you already know it, you just need to hear yourself say it."

"I don't know" she answered, gritting her teeth. "I don't why he chose her! I was stronger! I was faster! I was fresh! I had no previous children! I was his friend I was always close to him! I was a better warrior! I was... I was better than her in every sense! And still I lost!" she yelled angrily before she gasped.

"Lost?"

"I... I lost" she repeated looking down at the roots of the Tree.

"You're sore because you lost and now you can never get back to her. All your life you have won. Those few times that you lost you managed to redeem yourself and win later. But now, you can't."

"I can't... and I lost because... because... Because Bardock was in love with Berean" she gasped again, looking straight ahead of her with her huge violet eyes.

_00_

_ The four of them waited patiently while Bardock finished speaking to Berean, last minute instructions on their coming son, no doubt._

_ "Man, you'd think they're mating again" Borgos said as he looked up at the ceiling. It was true, they had been speaking for at least five minutes. By Saiyan standards that was a damn speech. "Why is he taking so long?"_

_ "Bardock just wants to make sure that Kakarot is properly taking care of" Tora explained. Of the four of them he was the one that knew Bardock the best. "You know him, after that whole incident with Raditz he doesn't want them to make the same mistake. He's probably telling Berean to make sure they get an accurate reading on his power level."_

_ "Yeah, but it's taking him a long time."_

_ "Knowing him, he probably went for one last drink."_

_ All the time Fasha had remained quiet, not sure what to think. She kept leaning against the wall, her arms crossed and looking at the ground. When the door opened she saw a very pregnant Berean smiling at Bardock, who waved back at her with an even face, the same mask he had always had with him._

_ "Finally! You done with her?" Suggesh asked, oblivious to the tiny glint that passed through Bardock's eyes at the mention of Berean in such a despicable way. But neither of them knew, and they would never know. "We were making a bet on how many missions we could finish before you finally came out."_

_ "Very funny."_

_ "We made a pool and everything!" Tora said, joining the joke. "I thought we could go to Kanassa and Meat and stop by Planet Freeza 72 for a quick break and you would be halfway through smooching with her!"_

_ Bardock would have normally broken the person's neck, but Tora was his best friend. The had been born the same day and had fought for the past thirty years together. They had lived through a war and countless missions, so he decided to just let it go. This once._

_ "I wasn't smooching, Tora. I was talking, there were a lot of things I needed to say and ask."_

_ "About?" Fasha inquired as the five of them walked towards their space pods._

_ "Kakarot, Raditz I wanted to know how his progress was coming along."_

_ "How is it?"_

_ "Alright. He's nothing special, but I'll fix that with a few beatings when we come back" he answered with a grin._

_ Fasha turned left and noticed with the very corner of her eye how Berean smiled at Bardock, right next to her, and how Bardock's grin turned into a heartfelt smile._

_00_

She hadn't noticed it at that time, she had been too busy thinking about their upcoming mission and doing her best to impress him to actually realize what was going on at the time. But now she could see it as clearly as if she had him in front of her.

"Damn it."

"There we go" Piccolo said, flying away before she could respond.

"There's nothing wrong with me" she muttered to herself, as a very thin smile crawled across her lips. "He was in love with her... there's nothing wrong with me."

And with a beaming smile in her face, Fasha shot off towards the island. She felt shame, but it was a different kind of shame, now she was merely embarrassed at herself for her own stupidity, but this was much better. The moment she landed she realized how hungry she was.

00

"So the match up is Yamcha against Gohan, Turnia against Raditz, 18 again Trunks, and Tien against Krillin, is that it?" Kakarot asked, checking the board. He got a nod of approval and looked at the eight participants. "Alright, so you guys know the rules, no energy attacks, NO SUPER SAIYAN!" he yelled at Raditz who crossed his arms and smirked. "and if you fall out of the ring you're out!"

"How come if we fall out we lose?" Trunks asked, crossing his arms.

"Cause that's how they did it back on Earth, duh!" Turnia said, smacking his head softly. He responded by sticking his tongue at her and wrapping the orange band around his waist tighter. "Come on dad, let's do this!"

Fasha relaxed in her chair and crossed her legs, placing one hand on her knee and resting her chin on her other fist, looking attentively at the group. She watched how Yamcha toyed with Gohan, pushing him around and trying to trip him, until Gohan managed to jump up and yank on his hair, making him cry in pain and giving him enough time to knock him off the ring.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"You know" she said, smiling at the display in front of them. "This little tournament was a good idea. If not for training at least for laughs."

"I thought you'd like it" he mumbled. "I got another surprised planned... later."

"Later?" she asked, but Kakarot smacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and winked, with _that_ look in his eyes. She suddenly realized what he meant and she felt her own body stirring with desire, her body temperature quickly rising. All of a sudden it became hard to sit straight as she recalled the last time they had gone at it, and her face became flushed and red. 18 and Bulma gave her a weird look, but she managed to maintain her attention on the fight.

"Get him, Turnia!" Yamcha said, throwing Raditz a dirty look. The older Saiyan merely laughed and jumped into the ring, not sorry at all for the numerous jokes and insults he had thrown at him.

Her daughter got into stance and started the fight by kicking Raditz and forcing him on the defense, but he merely laughed at her as he yanked her tail or pushed her to the ground.

"EW! Don't spit on me!" she complained as she jumped back and wiped her face. "Seriously?"

She stopped paying attention as she felt his hand on her tail, stroking it softly. She almost fell out of her chair when she felt the contact, and a soft purr escaped her throat before she had a chance to stop herself. This time Bulma raised both eyebrows and gave her a knowing look.

"We should leave" she whispered to him.

"Wait until Raditz loses" he answered back as he kept stroking her tail.

"I can't wait if you keep doing that!" she hissed at him, trying to push herself away but her body was not responding. "There! She won, let's get back to the house!"

"Screw the house" Kakarot said. "Let's do it in the village, everybody's here after all."

Her eyes widened and she was about to protest, but Kakarot gave her tail another soft stroke and a purr escaped her lips instead. Both of them jumped up and flew back to the village in less than a second, leaving the laughing crowd behind. Kakarot had not even landed properly on the ground when she had already jumped him, a lustful grin covering her face.

00

Turnia laughed all the way back to the village, singing her victory song as she lifted her little yellow trophy over her head, singing loudly in Gohan's and Trunks ears.

"I am the champion! I am the champion! You are the losers! Cause I am the champion! OF THE WORLD!"

"Shut up! That's the tenth time you've sung it!" Trunks yelled, angrily clenching his tiny fists and throwing her a murderous glare.

"You would be even more annoying if you won, so be silent!" she told him, poking her tongue out at him.

"That's true, Trunks" Gohan told him as he laughed and jumped on the younger boy's back. "Remember last time you won at tic-tac-toe? You didn't shut up until three days after that!"

"That's not true!"

"That is true" Vegeta stated as he flew between them and they all fell silent. "But if I have to listen to you sing that song one more time, so help me everything that is holy, I will rip that little trophy of yours to shreds and throw it at the sun."

Screaming a high pitched scream as she held her little trophy protectively, Turnia glowed red and shot off towards the village as the sun bathed the forest, leaving the very relieved trio behind.

She landed in the village square and was about to run into her home to put the trophy in her room when she saw a piece of pink cloth thrown in the ground.

"Uh? What's this?"

She looked around and saw another piece of pink cloth, it looked like her mother's bodysuit, and by the looks of it, it had been ripped off in a hurry. A few meters away from where she found the second piece she saw a cracked little shard of white. A piece of armor. Curious, she followed the little trail and ended up on the other side of her home, where she found her mother and father breathing very heavily, covered in sweat and smiling stupidly. She stared at them wide eyed, suddenly knowing what they had been doing.

"Oh, Turnia" Kakarot said, opening his tired eyes. "Is the tournament over? Did you win?" he asked her, and she nodded absentmindedly. "You're probably wondering about... this" he continued, pointing at his bloody face and chest.

"No need to explain" she said, walking back towards her home and entering without another word.

"Ouch" Fasha said, getting up and cuddling next to him. "You hit me so hard, I think you broke my arm."

"Ha, ha, sorry about that" he said, breathing heavily as he adjusted his position against his home's wall. "I told you we should have stayed in the square, but no, you were afraid they might see us!"

"Excuse me for having some semblance of civility" she stood up, stretching her pink bodysuit, carefully avoiding all the cuts and bruises her fight with Kakarot had given her. "So when do we fight again?"

"Friday?" he answered, getting up with a groan. When he saw her face he laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Come on, woman! I know I'm strong but I'm not a machine!"

"Fine" she said, getting on her toes and kissing his uninjured cheek, like human women did. "Let's go" she said, and the bruised pair slowly made their way into their home, waving at their friends that had stayed in the square talking and laughing.

Inside her home, Turnia rolled her eyes as she heard the chuckling couple entering the house and walking up the stairs.

"Why can't my parents just have sex like the rest of them?" she mumbled as she threw herself on her bed face down.

_00_

_ Chapter 33 We Are The Champions (Queen) on... Turnia being the champion I guess! XD_

_ And this is the end! At least of this story, I'm planning on maybe writing a sequel if enough of you guys want it, but for now I want to end this on a lighter note. I know some of you wanted Majin Buu and everything, but I didn't want to end up with a 50 chapter story, so I'm saving a lot more bad guys for the possible sequel._

_ Thank you so much to those of you that read everything and told me what you thought about it. More than once I thought about giving up and just letting this all go to hell, but you guys inspired me to keep writing and now I got a second completely finished novel under my belt!_

_ As always excuse any little (or huge) grammatical error XD_

_ So I got over 7000 views at the time of writing! Pretty cool considering it's only two thirds of the month, so thanks for that too guys!_

_ See you later!_


	34. Sequel

Hey, this is for all the guys and girls asking for the sequel! I already started it (In fact I started it a long time ago). It's the first story Dragon Ball Z: And Then The World Froze. The two short stories (Revolution Begins and Rage of the Winter) both happen during the second novel. Revolution Begins happens during the 6th chapter and Rage of the Winter happens after chapter 7.

I hope you guys enjoy the second part as much as the first one!

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you liked it!


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